Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Security Act

On March 29, 2020 I read the entire 880+ pages of the "CARES Act".  This was originally more than 1,200 pages.  I did not read that version.  Here's a few highlights of the Act:

H.R. 748 Coronavirus Aid, Relieve and Security Act

 Purpose: Providing emergency assistance and health care re-sponse for individuals, families and businesses affected by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. This is also called the "CARES Act" - LOL

If you want to read the $2 + Trillion bill, then here you go, I've included a link to the congressional website. The Act includes Hundreds of $Millions (perhaps $Billions) for government salaries and Administrative costs. Some aspects will be funded annually through 2025! Key provisions:

$180 Billion for the health care sector. Includes $4 billion for community health centers, $millions for "teaching health centers", and $millions for diabetes programs.

$25 billion in loans to to commercial airlines, $10 billion to airports, $4 billion to cargo airlines and $3 billion to aviation contractors. This is for wages, salaries and benefits of approx. 2 million aircraft industry workers. 

$4 billion estimated in tax relief to airlines.

$500 billion to a fund for making loans to businesses, as well as states and municipalities. This includes $10 billion in loans to the Post Office and $17 billion in loans to "firms vital to maintaining national security" (not specifically defined in the bill).

$55 billion worth of refundable tax credits for businesses that retain workers on their payroll despite revenue declines. This provision covers up to 50% of the first $10,000 in compensation, including health insurance premiums.

$12 billion estimated so employers may delay paying their share of payroll taxes on their employees for one to two years.

$150 billion in direct aid to help state, local and tribal governments cover rising costs and reduced tax revenues. The payments are scaled to the population of the state, with a $1.25 billion minimum per state. 

$3 billion to the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.

$8 billion to Native American tribes.

This is in addition to health care funds.

$14 Billion to the Commodity Credit Corporation.

$1 Billion for Defense Production Act Purchases.

$1.45 Billion for “Defense Working Capital Funds”.

$45 Billion for “Disaster Relief Fund”.

$400 million for for “Federal Assistance” both domestically and internationally.

$1.874 Billion for “Children and Families Services Programs”.

$8.8 Billion for “Child Nutrition Programs”.

$15.8 Billion for “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program”.

$27 Billion for “Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund” which includes an additional $275 million of which $90 million shall be transferred to “Health Resources and Services Administration—Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program”, $180 million to  “Health Resources and Services Administration—Rural Health” etc. etc.

$955 Million for “Aging and Disability Services Programs”. 

$30.75 Billion to an “Education Stabilization Fund”.

$25 Billion for for “Transit Infrastructure Grants”.

$5 Billion for the “Community Development Fund”. 

$4 Billion for “Homeless Assistance Grants”.

$1 Billion for “Project-Based Rental Assistance”, $50 million for “Housing for the Elderly”, $15 million for for “Housing for Persons with Disabilities”, $2.5 million for “Fair Housing Activities”

$10 million to "Minority Business Development Agency”.

$25 Million for “Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband Program”.

Aid to the Arts:

$78,000 to the "Institute Of American Indian And Alaska Native Culture And Arts Development",

$7.5 Million to the Smithsonian Institution,

$25 Million to the John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts.

$75 Million to the National Foundation On The Arts And Humanities.

$75 Million to the National Endowment For The Humanities.

Additional:

$360 Million to the DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

$4.3 Billion to the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention

Approx $1 Billion to National Institutes Of Health.

$525 Million to Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration plus $200 Million for administrative expenses. 

$900 million for “Low Income Home Energy Assistance”.

$3.5 Billion for “Payments to States for the Child Care and Development Block Grant”.

$1.84 Billion for “Children and Families Services Programs”.

Etc. Etc, Etc.

Aid to state, local and urban governments include:

$45 billion delivered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, covering such efforts as National Guard deployment, logistics coordination, and safety measures.

$25 billion for mass transit systems, to protect existing services as well as upgrade health and safety protections.

$31 billion for K-12 schools and higher education institutions.

$3.5 billion for child care, focusing on care for the children of health care workers, emergency 

responders, sanitation workers, and other employees essential to health and public safety.

An additional $42 billion in food and housing. This includes $25 billion for increased usage of food stamps and child nutrition assistance, which includes aid to schools struggling to provide free lunches off-site. $12 billion for housing support, including homelessness assistance, and $5 billion for child and family services. $450 million to food banks.

The bill sets aside $400 million for states to bolster vote-by-mail capabilities, expand early voting and online registration, and bolster the safety of in-person poll workers.

Transparency protections and limits on corporations

Other provisions:

Companies cannot use federal aid to make stock buybacks or issue dividends. Increases in executive compensation are limited, and collective bargaining agreements cannot be voided.

Details of loans and grants to companies are to be rapidly made public. In addition, businesses controlled by the president, vice president, members of Congress, and heads of executive departments cannot receive loans or investments from the government.

The bill establishes both a special inspector general’s office and a congressional oversight commission to conduct oversight.

The bill includes new rules for sunscreen drugs, rules for drug approvals unrelated to COVID-19, safety labeling changes, packaging, etc.

Link to Congressional Website:

congress.gov

HR 748 ENR: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act

(C) Original Content www.briarcliffelakes.blogspot.com

A list of Movies

Well, with things fubared, I dug out my list of movies to watch. Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order. Various genres, not all will please. This is not a complete list, and I'll add from time to time.....

1. Man with a Movie Camera - Vertov

2. Metropolis - Lang

3. Das Boot - Bucheim

4. The Abyss, long version - Cameron

5. Hugo - Scorcese

6. Back to the Future, first movie

7. Captain America - Johnston.

8. The Matrix - Wachowskis (1999).

9. Inception - Nolan.

10 Blade Runner, the final cut,

11. Interstellar - Nolan.

12. Last of the Mohicans - Mann (1992).

13. K2 - Roddam.

13. Vertical Limit - Campbell.

14. Strictly Ballroom - Luhrmann.

15. Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School

16. Silver Linings Playbook - Russell

17. Shall we Dance - Masayuki Suo

18. Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón‎; ‎David Heyman

19. Koyaanisqatsi - Reggio

20. Absolutely Anything - Jones.

21. Howl's Moving Castle -Hayao Miyazaki

22. Miracle - O'connor

23. Apollo 13 - Howard.

24. Constantine - Lawrence.

25. Lost in Translation - Coppola.

26. Singin' in the Rain - Kelly & Donen.

27. Groundhog Day - Ramis.

28. Starship Troopers - Verhoeven.

29. Iron Sky - Vuorensola.

30. As Good as it Gets - James L. Brooks

31. The Commitments - Alan Parker.

32. The Lord of the Rings - Extended Edition - Jackson

33. The Tangle - Christopher Soren Kelly

34. Parasite - Bong Joon-ho

35. Greenfingers - Joel Hershman

36. Guns Akimbo - Jason Lei Howden

Letter to the board January 6, 2020

This went to management:

"Hello Dave & Rosemary

Please forward this to the board and include it in the January packet. I’m looking forward to a detailed response by the board.  It was stated by the board that email addresses would be in the newsletter. That did not happen.  Why not?

Thank you!

1     1. The board did not perform the following maintenance items in 2019. These were scheduled in 2018. I want to point out that once an association falls behind in maintenance it is difficult or impossible to catch up.  Here’s a few items the board decided not to do in 2019:

A.      Apply GSB-88 preservative to Lakecliffe Blvd after repairing it and preparation. A proposal was obtained in fall of 2018 but the board agreed to delay until 2019. This approach is used by nearby communities including Wheaton and it was recommended by the project engineer for the street replacement. This was discussed and the info was given to the entire board including Bailey, Scudder and Seery. In 2018 they all agreed to proceed.

B.      Replace 3 or more garage floors per survey with management in 2018. Some are in poor condition and 40+ years old. Damaged floors can be a hazard for residents.

C.      Replace at least 4 driveways in 2019 per survey with management in 2018. Poor driveways can be a hazard for residents and visitors.

D.      Resurface Plymouth including curb and basin repairs in 2019, per board and management.

E.       Resurface the remainder of Dover and curb and basin repairs in 2020.

F.       Etc.  Detailed lists were provided to the board including Bailey, Scudder and Seery in 2017, again in 2018. A summary was provided to owners in the August-September 2018 newsletter under “Guidance”.  See newsletter at www.blmh.org

 2. I received the 2020 Approved budget. I noticed that 1) there is an approximate 0% fee increase and 2) the projected year end 12/31/2019 indicates a budget surplus of $58,214 (Projected total year end income minus Total all expenses).  Such a surplus could justify a 0% fee increase.

 3.  Certain board members cannot comprehend my position about the October 2018 decision of the board to raise fees.  At that time President Sheryl Bailey insisted a fee increase was “absolutely necessary” and the entire board voted for an increase of 1.88%. However, at the time the projected budget surplus for 2018 was about $124,000. There was no justification for a fee increase, yet the board decided to arbitrarily and capriciously raise fees for no purpose. That’s a breach of fiduciary duty.  At the time Bailey, Scudder and Seery had a combined 40 to 50 years of board experience. Calvo also had board experience. A board should never raise fees simply because it can and has the power to do so.

4.   I suspect some board members don’t understand the role of a fiduciary. In fact, board members don’t represent or work for the benefit of the association. They are elected to represent all owners who they are to treat equally and fairly.  The board should treat owners as the shareholders of this not-for-profit corporation.  

5.      On the matter of budgeting the legal statutes for the board are clear.  Read the Illinois Condominium Act and governing documents. Board members should be intimately familiar with the governing documents and the Illinois Condominium Act. The board should act in accordance with these.

6.       Being on the association board is neither a hobby nor a power trip, where board members exercise dominion over other owners and residents.  Board members should not run their personal agendas. In view of the projected surplus  in 2018 the board members who voted to raise fees because they could each afford the fee increase were in breach of their fiduciary duty. Board members should not cater to the “squeaky wheels”. In other words, treat attendees of meetings courteously and with respect, answer their questions with honesty and integrity and the board should take responsibility for its actions.   All owners are to be treated equally, be they onsite, attend meetings, or remote owners; to do otherwise creates separate classes owners. That is forbidden by the Illinois Condominium Act .

7.      To keep all owners informed requires communications by the board. Doing so is the boards’ responsibility as fiduciaries. Owners may choose to be uninformed, but that does not relieve the board of this fiduciary duty.

8.   Here’s some financial history for the current board, which may explain my position, my caution about fee increases and concern about needlessly inflicting financial pain on our owners. Annual, continuous fee increases of the magnitude which occurred at BLMH for 20 years can financially stress owners. Some will be driven into foreclosure. I was on the board for eight years, 2010-2018.    I discovered that delinquencies were increasing and did reach nearly $80,000. The number of delinquent owners peaked at more than 21%. Each and every year year a few owners went into foreclosure. Some were evicted from their units by the association for lack of payment of fees.  A bad economy and a decade of fee increases averaging more than 7% each year did that. In fact, for 20 years the annual fee increases were about 5-1/2% each and every year.  

8.       Here’s a chart of the estimated surpluses as of the end of the 3^rd quarter from 2014 to 2018. This was from the budget worksheets used by boards in October/November planning sessions.  The projected surpluses were determined by subtracting expenses from income. I would say that it was a goal to achieve modest surplus each year.  Furthermore, it is pointless to budget” the worst case scenario.”  From 2010 to 2018 the budgets were the result of improved planning and financial controls. I enrolled a CPA who joined the board for several years. The treasurer, the maintenance director and I monitored this closely throughout the year and periodically discussed the status with the entire board  The board members who were the force to accomplish this are no longer on the board. This planning is why fee increases were reduced. Some board members didn’t see things this way, which is why President Bailey insisted that fees be raised, and the entire board agreed.  Why was that? Possibly because it has been the position of certain board members that small, annual fee increases are better than larger ones at infrequent intervals.   That’s an acceptable statement, but it should not be an excuse for raising fees each and every year, whether necessary or not.  Here are a few of the projected surpluses achieved as of the annual budget planning sessions during my board tenure. This is typical of the information that should be used by boards as part of their annual planning:

110.  Under my board involvement and leadership from 2010 to 2018 average annual fee increases were 1.56% per year. They could have been lower, but in 2010 with the completion of the first ever Reserve Study prepared by an outside firm a 7% fee increase occurred. This was proven to be unnecessary by the reserve study completed the following year.

11.    I really don’t know what the current board will do in 2020, be it fees or maintenance or water mains, etc. I’ll write about that in the coming weeks.

12.   The minutes are incomplete or missing. For example, the January 2019 meeting was never published on the official website www.blmh.org.  These were approved by the board on March 14, 2019. The June 13, July 11, August 8 and September 12, 2019 Minutes contain no information regarding the financial status of the association; nor is there any indication that finances were discussed.  There are no published minutes for October and November 2019 which should have been approved by the board as of the December 2019 meeting.   I doubt if the minutes meet any standards for a non-profit corporation supposedly run by a board of fiduciaries.  The board should provide a statement of each item that was approved. For example, if finances were approved, what was actually approved? How and when did CD  rollovers occur? This is not mentioned in the “official” Minutes. Owners are the “owners” here and the board serves as representatives and fiduciaries. Owners are entitled to know the financial amounts that are being approved by the board.

13.    I have noted some gross inaccuracies in the official Meeting Notes. I’m going to remind the board that I videotaped the meetings I attended including most from 2008-2018 and I kept copious notes. The  March 14, 2019 minutes state: “The prior Board President did not ask for a gate that is why one was not installed.” This is inaccurate. This was discussed with the entire board while I was Maintenance or architecture director and a directive was made to install a gate. A report was made to the board, which included to Bailey, Scudder and Seery. In fact, a verbal report by CCS at the end of that year stated that the gate was not installed because the weight of the design was too great, and it would be done in the following year. It wasn’t.

14.   The board should not ignore the issue of the lakes on our property (lakes 3 and 4). The city of Wheaton controls these retention ponds which periodically overtop and flood the community.  This too should be looked at and the association should be relieved of the burden of maintaining a city run facility. For more see these 22 posts: http://briarcliffelakes.blogspot.com/search/label/Briarcliffe%20Flood

Norman Retzke"

www.briarcliffelakes.blogspot.com

Original material:  https://briarcliffelakes.blogspot.com/

30 minute Educational Video

As can be seen in the chart above, the fees increases have moderated since 2009. The red line is the trajectory we were on, the blue is the actual. There were good reasons for the moderation after 2008 and it occurred because of new boards, improved financial controls and a lot of work by the boards of 2011 to 2018.  There is a link to an educational video in the post, which helps to explain.

The above chart shows the fees for the average owners from 2001 to 2018.  You will notice that fees increased each and every year from 2001 to 2008. In fact, for 20 years the annual fee increases were about 5-1/2% each and every year.  The final decade of these fee increases the average was more than 7% each year. The board was relentless and continued this even with a disastrous economy, rising delinquencies and foreclosures. The primary reason the fees moderated was because the board that instituted those fees was overthrown in the fall of 2008.  Were these fee increases absolutely necessary? I say no, and the blue line in the graph above shows the actual fees from 2009 until 2018.   Sadly, these relentless fee increases contributed to large delinquencies, foreclosures and eviction of owners. In 2011 the delinquencies peaked with nearly 21% of all owners delinquent and the fees owed reached more than $85,000.  Why in 2011?  In part because there is a delay to foreclosures, etc. Some owners held on as long as they could.

From time to time I gave owners a presentation at annual meetings, I began doing so in 2010-2011. This YouTube video includes the slides presented to owners at the annual meeting in the fall of 2016. It was not the first such presentation my me.  The actual presentation was "live" and prepared using my notes and slides.  I prefer that to "canned" presentations. The video was prepared using those materials. It starts slowly, but the pace does pick up.  This link was sent to management on January 2020 with a request to put it in the board packet for the January 9 association meeting:

"Hello Dave;

I’d suggest that all board members view this short,  30 minute video. Please provide to the board. https://youtu.be/_ui4nr44ldw    Thank You"

It is the board's responsibility as fiduciaries to be informed and act in the best interest of the owners. I can't force the board to view this video.Here is the video:

https://youtu.be/_ui4nr44ldw

Original material:  https://Briarcliffelakes.blogspot.com/

Incomplete Minutes

"Official" Minutes of the meeting, per WWW.BLMH.org

Our association is a not-for-profit corporation under the laws of the State of Illinois.  With the election of September 2018, a former board president who had no commitment to communication has been back in the president's seat.  Communications is now so sparse that the owners are seldom provided content information about the official association meetings.

I had to send a 15 item letter to management about this. Boards may not create separate classes of owners. In other words, it is illegal to force owners to attend monthly association meetings to get information about the goings on in the HOA.  Doing so discriminates against remote owners. Approximately 20% of our owners live off the property.

I sent a letter to management on January 6, 2020 and it included the following as Item 13:

"Hello Dave & Rosemary

Please forward this to the board and include it in the January packet. I’m looking forward to a detailed response by the board.  It was stated by the board that email addresses would be in the newsletter. That did not happen.  Why not?

Thank you!

"13. The minutes are incomplete or missing. For example, the January 2019 meeting was never published on the official website www.blmh.org.  These were approved by the board on March 14, 2019. The June 13, July 11, August 8 and September 12, 2019 Minutes contain no information regarding the financial status of the association; nor is there any indication that finances were discussed.  There are no published minutes for October and November 2019 which should have been approved by the board as of the December 2019 meeting.   I doubt if the minutes meet any standards for a non-profit corporation supposedly run by a board of fiduciaries.  The board should provide a statement of each item that was approved. For example, if finances were approved, what was actually approved? How and when did CD  rollovers occur? This is not mentioned in the “official” Minutes. Owners are the “owners” here and the board serves as representatives and fiduciaries. Owners are entitled to know the financial amounts that are being approved by the board."



Original material:  https://Briarcliffelakes.blogspot.com/

Comcast Contract Voided

The association is a Private Urban Development (PUD) and it had a contract with Comcast to provide cable service to those owners who want it.   There has been no notice to residents of the Association by the board, but on July 11, 2019 the association board voted unanimously not to renew:

"Comcast Agreement – Andrea moves that we decline the contract, Mary seconds – unanimous"

Our governing documents are very specific. Nothing can be installed in or on the common elements.  So what does this mean for residents?  After waiting months for a newsletter notification I wrote to management on January 6, 2020 as follows:

"Hello Dave & Rosemary

Please forward this to the board and include it in the January packet.  Or, if you can enlighten me, please do so.

The July 11 “official” Meeting Minutes (WWW.BLMH.org) state that the board voted not to accept the Comcast Cable contract.   There has been no other communication to the owner body and residents about this that I am aware of. I expected something in the Newsletter, but No, no such communication. As the Association is a Private Urban Development and does not have normal easements, I want to know the impact upon me as a Comcast subscriber:

1. If there is a Comcast infrastructure issue on the property, how will Comcast now go about addressing it, without a contract?
2. If my Comcast service is disrupted because of a buried cable issue, or issue of the cabling attached to the building, what will be the consequences?
3. The rules are very specific about attaching anything to the buildings or the use of the “common” elements. Is the Comcast cable attached to the building now a violation?
4. Is Comcast now required to notify management before entering the property to do repairs to their cable system?
5. Is there anything else about this that I need be aware?

Please advise me.

Thank You,"

Original material:  https://Briarcliffelakes.blogspot.com