The Promontory at Soda Creek, Quarterly Meeting Minutes, February 9, 2023
Board members present: Angie Mays, Gretchen Stubenvoll, Chris Jenkins, Beth Hilquist
Two board members authorized to vote by proxy: Dan Fesenmeyer and Cindy Middleton
Four of the six board members were present with two proxy votes. Per section 6.6 of the Amended Bylaws, this consitutes a majority of the board for a quorum.
The meeting was called to order at 6:30pm at the Stubenvoll residence.
Minutes from prior meeting: The minutes from the prior board meeting (November 1, 2022) were reviewed by Chris. Meeting minutes were approved by voice vote without objection.
Treasurer report: Gretchen presented the 2022 financials. The Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2022 shows HOA assets at $117,099.15, an increase of $14,379.23 from December 31, 2021. The Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual (January through December 2022) shows the HOA had a solid year. Total revenue was over budget by $1,067.86, primarily due to a few homeowners paying 4Q21 dues in 1Q22. Late fees and increased CD earnings also boosted revenue. Total reserve savings was $9,568.33, under budget by $1,031.67, again primarily due to the timing of dues payments.
The HOA Board is encouraging all homeowners to pay their quarterly dues on time, by either setting up a timely automatic bill pay through their bank or perhaps paying the entire years’ dues in the first quarter of each year. Sending out payment reminders takes unnecessary time and bookkeeping resources. Homeowners should be aware that each quarterly $300 payment is due at the end of January, April, July and October, regardless of whether they didn’t receive or misplaced their invoice emailed or snail-mailed to them.
Also, for the first time in recent HOA history, we ended the year with a net income of $3,597.90. This amount was primarily due to a significant decrease in landscaping and groundskeeping expenses due to drought, holding off on crack sealing and thankfully not having any major maintenance expenses. On the downside, the Waste Management costs were significantly over budget by approximately $5,700, due to unexpected increases in fuel costs and providing a fourth dumpster on dumpster weekend. We will adjust for this in the 2023 budget.
Under Colorado tax law, the net income of $3,597.90 is taxable at the rate of 25.5% unless the HOA approves a tax resolution to rollover this amount into the next year’s operating expenses or reserves. The HOA governing documents need to be reviewed and revised in view of recent changes in Colorado law regarding HOAs. The board has requested an estimate from our lawyers, but is anticipating this project will cost several thousand dollars. Therefore, the board is recommending that the 2022 net income be rolled over to 2023 operating expenses. Gretchen will prepare the required tax resolution requesting this vote, which will be sent out to the entire HOA by email by the end of February. To avoid being taxed on this net income, we must get HOA approval before the HOA tax filing date of March 15.
Gretchen also presented a draft 2023 budget. With increased Waste Management fees and anticipated legal and crack filling expenses this year, the proposed 2023 budget decreases reserve savings from $50/lot in 1Q23 to $10/lot in 2Q, 3Q and 4Q. That said, assuming homeowners pay their dues on time, it is expected that an additional $4,240 will be added to the reserve savings, which as of February 8, 2023 totaled $113,522.87. As a reminder, the board continues to diligently save for future road resurfacing expected in the next 3-5 years. After the HOA approves the tax resolution and the board receives a quote for the legal work, Gretchen will email a final 2023 budget to the board for approval prior to the next board meeting in May.
Fire Mitigation: Angie would like everybody to do their part in juniper removal. Woodchip removal is also something we need to consider. We would like to encourage all homeowners to have the fire department inspect their property regarding fire mitigation.
Website management: Chris is managing the website by posting meeting minutes and board-directed announcements. Chan Pollock continues to manage the hosting of the website.
Covenants: We are working on decisions regarding legal fee bids on complete revisions of our current HOA documents.
Socials: no report
New business: Chris has requested that board members inspect the grate on the entrance from the parkway to Windom. There is a possibility that it might need replaced.
ARC: The board will ask Dan to follow up on deck projects that were submitted.
The next meeting will be May 9th, 6:30pm at Tuscany Tavern. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30pm.
Submitted by: Chris Jenkins, Board Secretary
Approved: May 9, 2023