Showed Fence Reserves, Landscaping Reserves, and Undesignated Reserves as distinct line items
Tracked the 2018–2020 $200/year special assessment specifically for long-term fence work
Let any homeowner see:
how much was set aside,
how much was spent,
and what was left.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was legible and logical.
2. The 2020 Reserve Study said: no special assessments for 30 years — if we kept doing it right.
The 2020 professional reserve study concluded that:
With normal spending,
With reserves kept and used correctly,
And with capital projects (like fences) planned and funded through reserves,
No additional special assessments should be needed for about 30 years.
In other words, we were on track.
3. Then the way money was handled changed.
That’s when things went sideways.
Starting in 2020 and accelerating after 2021, several things happened:
a) Reserves stopped being clearly separated.
Instead of:
“Here’s the reserve fund; here’s operations,”
we now have:
4 bank accounts (two CDs, checking, savings),
but no labeled “Reserve Fund” in the reports.
Fence repairs show up as operating expenses, not reserve-funded capital.
The 2024 annual report isn’t even posted, so owners can’t see a clean year-end picture.
Homeowners can no longer look at a report and answer the basic question:
“How much do we actually have in reserves?”
b) Operating expenses — especially discretionary ones — quietly ballooned.
Compared to the “before” years, we now have much higher recurring costs in key categories:
Landscaping & Irrigation
This has historically been our single largest expense, especially on the 2+ acres of turf in the central greenbelt and the small irrigated strip along Overland.
The grass is being watered and mowed at near “golf-course” frequency, primarily behind a handful of homes.
There are clear ways to reduce this cost:
Cut watering levels
Reduce irrigated area in the center greenspace
Shift portions toward more natural/low-water landscaping
None of this has been meaningfully pursued.
Legal Fees
Previously: generally low and occasional
Now: normalized at thousands per year, even without major lawsuits.
A lot of legal time has been spent on internal conflict, interpretation battles, and defensive postures — none of which builds a fence or fixes a drain.
Accounting / Bookkeeping
Previously: done by volunteers (e.g., Jennifer Hutchinson or Keith Knight) or at modest cost.
Then: Jennifer Hutchinson, who once did it as a volunteer, was later paid to do essentially the same QuickBooks work — with no evidence of competitive bidding.
Now: another person is being paid $500/month to do the books, without recognized financial credentials, while we have:
Outside QuickBooks professionals quoting $320–$400/month, and
Homeowners willing to volunteer or assist at no cost.
So we are knowingly paying more than we need to, for work that used to be done for free or cheaply.
All of this is happening at the same time the Board says:
“We don’t have enough money. We need you to pay more.”
c) Fence repairs were pulled into the operating budget.
Instead of doing what the reserve study assumed:
“Use reserves to pay for big, predictable fence work,”
the HOA has:
Spent tens of thousands of dollars on fence repairs out of the operating budget, and
Not tracked those costs as part of a coherent replacement plan.
That has two bad effects:
It drains cash that should have been building reserves.
It makes the annual budget look worse than it would if reserves were being used properly.
d) Stormwater drainage — a real liability — is being avoided, not planned for.
While we’re told there’s not enough money:
Obvious stormwater drainage and concrete failures (sinking sections, failing channels) inside the HOA remain unaddressed.
These items have not been properly added to the Reserve Study, even though similar concrete systems (like those under PID #30) are treated as assets requiring long-term planning.
The Board has been willing to pour operating cash into fences and lush turf, but not into drainage infrastructure that could cause bigger, more expensive problems later.
So we’re being asked to pay more without a credible plan that:
treats all major assets (fence and drainage) honestly, and
prioritizes safety and infrastructure over cosmetic spending.
4. Meanwhile, the “assessment” itself keeps shifting.
Originally, the Board talked about:
A $65/month increase in “dues” — notably not calling it a “special assessment.”
Now we’re looking at:
$35/month
For 2 years, even though the Reserve Study projects on a 3-year horizon.
We haven’t been given a clear explanation for:
Why the number dropped,
Why the timeframe doesn’t match the Reserve Study, or
How the new proposal fits into a long-term funding plan.
It feels less like careful planning and more like:
“Let’s see what amount we can get the community to accept.”
5. So what’s the simplest way to explain how we got here?
Try this sentence with your neighbors:
“The 2020 reserve study said we shouldn’t need special assessments for 30 years — if we handled reserves correctly. We didn’t. We blurred reserves into general funds, let legal and accounting and landscaping spending grow, and paid for fence work out of the operating budget. Now they’re asking us to fix that with higher dues instead of fixing the spending and the accounting.”
You don’t have to know QuickBooks or CCIOA to understand that:
If costs go up faster than they need to,
And the money isn’t tracked clearly,
You end up with a “shortfall” that’s actually a management problem, not just a “we all have to pay more now” problem.
🧾 For the people who do want details and receipts
Here are the key points to highlight for the more analytical homeowners:
Past vs. Present Reserve Treatment
Before 2020: reserves were explicit; fence and capital projects were planned there.
After 2020: reserve lines vanish from reports; CDs + checking + savings are all treated as a big pool with no formal reserve designation.
Legal & Accounting Spending
Legal and accounting were modest pre-2020.
In 2022–2025, they ramped to $7,000+ per year combined, with:
No competitive bids,
Prior volunteers turned into paid contractors,
And cheaper, qualified options available.
Landscaping & Water
The central greenbelt (about 2 acres) gets heavy watering and mowing, mostly benefiting a small number of immediately adjacent homes.
The irrigated front strip is small; the majority of water + mow cost is for the central turf.
Reducing irrigation and mowing frequency could free up thousands per year without harming property values.
Fence vs. Drainage Priorities
Fence repairs keep getting funded repeatedly from operations with no consistent plan.
Known drainage issues are not being fixed or properly planned in reserves.
A credible reserve and capital plan would treat both as essential infrastructure and budget accordingly.
Reserve Study Numbers Don’t Cleanly Match the Books
The 2025 Reserve Study uses a “starting reserve” number that doesn’t appear as a distinct reserve in any published financial statement.
If we can’t clearly see what’s in reserves today, we can’t honestly project what will be needed tomorrow.
🎯 What a reasonable homeowner can demand (without being “against” the HOA)
You don’t have to be anti-Board to ask for this:
A pause on any dues increase / assessment vote until:
The 2024 annual report is published (2025 too, if possible)
Reserves are clearly broken out again in Annual Reports with clear line items for what is added or removed from Reserves, including the parties being paid.
All bookkeeping services are competitively bid
A revised Reserve Study is reconciled with real, labeled reserve balances
A plan to lower controllable operating costs (especially landscaping, legal, accounting) before asking everyone for more money.
A capital plan that includes both fences and drainage, not just the parts we see from the trail.
