Budgeting for 2016 Colonies Style++

It is that time of year – the 2016 Budget is out and the Budget Hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the subsequent Board Meeting in which the Budget is voted on scheduled for Wednesday, November 11, 2015 (sadly, Veterans are not recognized at The Colonies).

Some highlights of the proposed 2016 Budget that will be discussed at the Budget Hearing (which, unfortunately is a waste of co-owner's time as nothing changes; the F&I Committee Members say words to placate people like 'we will take that into consideration' and throughout the course of the meeting they are lauded by Management (of course because Management Personnel don't have to pay the inflated fees)):

• Planned Condo Fee Increase is $30/Month = $565 Unit/Month (Note: Every co-owner pays same fee at The Colonies no matter the number of bedrooms or square footage/unit) – The Monthly Fee Amount does wonders per outside professionals.

• Accounting and Data Processing – a 70.94% increase?  Rates cannot be that high and that is believed for the person (Benninger (sp?) who works in the back room of the office as we ALL certainly hope any portion of those funds are NOT accounting for any of the Board Member's Treasurer functions  

Salaries/Benefits:

• Admin Salaries (3 Full-Time and 2 Part-Time Employees) – 8.58% increase for a total of $253,000 allocated and that NOT even counting the $4,500 Bonus Pool which is an average of $1,500/full-time employee (Note: Total amount allocated for Bonus Pools across all employee categories is $13,200)!!   

• Is Benninger above 'double-dipping?'  3 Full-Time (General Manager, Property Manager and Benninger assumedly) and 2 Part-Time (Former General Manager in Mornings and Treasurer in Afternoons) Employees... 

• Maintenance Salaries (7 Full-Time Employees) – 16.73% increase for a total allocation of $321,000 (Bonus Pool Allocation Amount: $6,700 which averages to $957/Employee)!

• Security In-House Wages (1 Part-Time Employee) – $13,400 vs. Security Contract ($331,000); the 'In-House' Wages is for the full-time Colonies employee works Security Part-Time BUT if we took him off the books, I am sure the Eagle contract would NOT increase by $13K/year for 1 person!

• Medical Insurance – Where to go in these Obama–Care ACA Times?  It has not appeared to have affected The Colonies payroll one bit!  $174,310 total planned for 19 Full-time employees (Note: likely not all are on Colonies insurance due to spouse plan, former military, options) BUT there was a notation stating 'add 1 to staff $5682 premium'.  Many co-owners were aghast at a Budget Hearing when it was revealed that employee premiums were 100% employer paid at that time.   That $5,682 premium amount works out to $473.50/month so would say that still the case!  The Colonies is not a Fortune 1000 entity nor part of a larger corporation that owns many properties so they need to get with reality!!!!

• Uniform Rentals – $13,500; Cintas is here on property regularly but there could be a compromise where employees are issued a certain amount and then it on them to pay for any after the initial issuance.  No reason they cannot wear Work Pants of this caliber (Work Pant Example) and then the Cintas shirts or if contract at end, explore other options.  Note:  I not recall anything ever said in Colonies Crier or on posted Board agenda of Uniform contract being voted on (it was the 2011 or 2012 Budget Hearing that current Board Member Maison questioned the amount of money being spent for the uniforms).  

Per the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 3.1% is the average annual base salary increase for 2016 employees can expect.

We can all agree that the employees certainly not have it bad here by any means in these times:

• No salary increase in any category for 2016 below 3.08 (Part-Time Security person and that in addition to full-time wages); range 3.08% - 16.73%
• Bonus Pool allocated
• Paid Health Insurance
• Pension Plan
• Vacation/Holiday Time
• Paid Work Attire (Exception: Administrative Management) 

Most amused looking over the 2014 Audit as the prior firm would have amounts spent correspond with Budget Items even by Account Line Number (i.e., 5130) and the current firm just groups things together leaving co-owners to wonder how items like 'Wages' were actually spent ($872,522 does not say a lot vs. $375,000 - Administrative, $145,000 - Maintenance, etc.).  Yet another example of the lack of transparency at The Colonies (funnily enough the biggest joke of all is the current Board President and his predecessor were former chairs of the F&I Committee)!!!

One important thing to highlight about the November 11, 2015 Board Meeting where the 2016 Budget will be voted is, as referenced above is that one of the Board Members voting (the Treasurer no less) also is one of the Part-Time Administrative employees who is believed to still be working part-time in the office and will be voting on her own 8.58% wage increase!  Most have said she should abstain from voting on this but she has not in the past!

++ Other Issues ++

The Modernization Committee has started the building upgrades which consist of 6 buildings at a projected cost of $80,000/building.  The planned modernization of the buildings per an email sent Friday, August 21, 2015 by a Colonies Modernization/Upgrades Committee Member stated that aspects of the modernization work would include:

• Lobbies: New windows, doors, flooring, mailboxes, upgraded moldings, painting, LED sconces, decorative mirror and cushion for center bench
• Hallways: New carpeting and painting 
• LED Lighting Proposal has been approved (Colonies maintenance staff will manage installation of those lights in the building hallways in conjunction with other projects)

These upgrades will be great for The Colonies image.  However the Board of Directors, the F&I Committee and Management need to realize the high condo fees are a turn off to the outside market (and no we are not suggesting bargain basement).  As of the October 2015 edition of The Colonies Crier, the Reserves balance was $1,963,562 (it should be noted it was not too long ago when the balance was below $350,000).

Another perspective of goings on in the Colonies Community

·         Community Sharing and Caring

I strongly believe no dog should ever be off their leash if out of their unit at any time while on Colonies property, period.  I take the elevator all the time and door opens at garage or I am on other side waiting for it expecting no one to be there and startled when door has opened and have nearly had a collision with person(s) on other side.  Whether it be an elevator, an encounter in the hallway with someone coming out of their unit – it is VERY important to be mindful of the community in which we live even if one's pet is the most docile, ANYTHING could make a pet react (i.e., a different perfume/odor they smell, noise from accessories on clothing someone may be wearing, excitement by the mere presence of another person after being locked in a unit all day while their owner(s) were at work, etc.).

The mold in common areas is MOST disturbing but NOT shocking as it has been experienced by people around The Colonies to include storage rooms, unit leaks, ceilings.  During the upgrades/modernization process, The Colonies needs to ensure ALL common area issues such as this will be addressed.  What good is it going to do if they need to knock down a beautiful wall to address an issue if it could have been circumvented?  Money wasted is what is will be and The Colonies is very adept with wasting money (Management/Board secretive about reporting RFPs out for a service let alone number they actually review which many co-owners find suspect)...

• Building 6 Water Main Issues (Construction equipment on property for over 8 months)
• Building 5 Garage Repairs (Contractor to come twice and there several weeks both times)

Until Next Time –

- AKM