The following is the latest in a series of monthly messages from the RVR Master Association Board, called “A View From the Board.” The messages summarize recent Board decisions and discussions, and are designed to bring RVR homeowners up to date on issues important to the community.
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Dear RVR Homeowners,
One of the Board’s most important responsibilities each year is producing the Master Association’s annual budget. It’s the blueprint for how we manage our affairs throughout the year.
This month’s “View From the Board” will focus on the 2021 Master Association budget. We want this process to be transparent. It’s your money, and you need to be comfortable that the RVRMA Board is being a responsible steward of the community’s finances.
Working with RVRMA management, we’ve developed a final draft of the 2021 budget that is now ready for you to see. The Board reviewed an initial draft of the 2021 budget at its October 21 Board meeting. Since then, we’ve been busy working with our management team to refine the numbers. Our desire is to produce a document that meets the needs of the community, stabilizes costs, reflects operating in an uncertain Covid environment, and plans adequately for the future.
Just as most of us do with our household budgets, the Board looked at how we spent the Master Association’s money in 2020, and how we intend to spend it next year. We are confident that this budget allows the Master Association to operate efficiently next year, and sets aside adequate funding for future needs.
Here are highlights of our proposed 2021 budget.
Operational Budget: For 2021, we propose an $8 per month reduction in dues for the Master Association’s Operational budget. Monthly dues for Operations will fall from $251 to $243. The Board felt it was important to reduce monthly dues, if at all possible – in the current Covid environment – where we are not able to provide full services at the Ranch House. We’re pleased to propose an Operational budget that makes good on this commitment. We’d like to commend our management team – Sterling Page, Kendra Ford and James Maguire – in working with Board Treasurer Todd Richmond to make this happen.
Reserve Budget: Dues for the Master Association’s Reserve budget will remain unchanged at $47 per month. Again, the Board committed to holding the line in a Covid environment and, in part, due to excellent budget performance in 2020, we were able to do that. We anticipate ending 2020 with a budget surplus of approximately $161,000. By law, any year-end surplus automatically goes to our Reserve fund; this helps us to avoid any increases in Reserve dues for 2021.
Combined Operational and Reserve Budget: The monthly RVRMA base dues for 2021 are $290 ($243 for Operations + $47 for Reserves). This is $8 less per month than you have been paying in 2020.
Those who live in Old Town and The Settlement, as well as sub-associations within RVR, pay additional dues for various services. Those additional dues for Old Town and the Settlement are shown in the proposed budget that’s a part of this e-mail. Sub-associations, such as The Boundary, Crystal Bluffs and The 24, set their own budgets for special services beyond what the Master Association provides.
Key Steps in Budget Process: The budget process is open and transparent. We are encouraging homeowners to get as involved as you want to be. Here are some important upcoming milestones in the budget process:
- November 14: In this e-mail, we are providing a link to the proposed 2021 budget, to allow you a chance to review it. <Click here> to see a summary of the proposed budget. After reviewing the budget, you can make comments on it at the November monthly Board meeting. Or, you can send your budget comments or questions ahead of the meeting via e-mail to General Manager Sterling Page (gm@rvrcommunity.com).
- November 18: To learn more about the 2021 budget, homeowners can attend the monthly Board meeting on Wednesday, November 18. It’s an opportunity to ask questions or provide input, before the Board votes to approve the new budget. <Click here> to view the agenda for the RVRMA November Board meeting. And, <Click here> for your invitation to attend the meeting via Zoom videoconference.
- December 6: You should receive, by December 6, an email with a link to the budget ballot. You will be able to complete, and return this budget ballot, online.
- December 16: By December 16, your budget ballots are due to be returned to RVR management, online. On December 16, at the regular monthly Board meeting, the results of the budget vote will be announced, and the RVRMA 2021 budget will be formally ratified.
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Finally, 2020 has been an unexpectedly unusual year, driven by Covid, politics, social unrest and economic challenges. Unusual circumstances also allowed us to propose a 2021 RVRMA budget with a dues decrease. That is unusual, too, and is unlikely to happen again next year. We’ve done the best job we can planning financially for 2021, and we won’t know until this time next year what dues will look like for 2022.
If you have any feedback or questions on the budget, or the process of developing, approving and ratifying it, please share your thoughts with Sterling (gm@rvrcommunity.com). He’ll pass your comments along to the Board, or respond to you directly.
As mentioned earlier, our next Board meeting is Wednesday, November 18, at 5:30 pm. The meeting will be held virtually, by Zoom videoconference. At this meeting, you can provide your input on the budget before the Board votes on it. Hope to “see” you there.
On behalf of your volunteer RVRMA Board,
Cathy Cooney & Gary Lesser
Board Co-Presidents
