Updated Surplus Numbers

Updated Surplus Numbers
Updated Surplus Numbers: Actual surplus 2018 per audit was $85,163.
Boards 2011-2018 implemented policies and procedures with specific goals:
stabilize owner fees, achieve maintenance objectives and achieve annual budget surpluses.
Any surplus was retained by the association.
The board elected in fall 2018 decided to increase owner fees, even in view of a large potential surplus

Average fees prior to 2019

Average fees prior to 2019
Average fees per owner prior to 2019:
RED indicates the consequences had boards continued the fee policies prior to 2010,
BLUE indicates actual fees. These moderated when better policies and financial controls were put in place by boards

Better budgeting could have resulted in lower fees

Better budgeting could have resulted in lower fees
Better budgeting could have resulted in lower fees:
RED line = actual fees enacted by boards,
BLUE line = alternate, fees, ultimately lower with same association income lower had
boards used better financial controls and focused on long term fee stability

Saturday, September 27, 2008

How to Use this Blog

Instruction on navigating and using this blog

This blog is arranged chronologically, that is, each new or current entry I make is at the top. Entries are called “Posts”. Previous or older “Posts” are arranged beneath the current one.

So as you scroll down this blog you will see “Posts” arranged from the most current to the older, and eventually you will get to the oldest post.

How to Make a Comment
At the bottom of each “Post” there is an opportunity to make a comment and read the comments left by others. All you have to do is click on the pencil symbol to open the window for entering your comment. Or, click on the word COMMENTS, at the bottom of the post and which looks like this:



Each comment is public. So be courteous. If you choose to leave personal information, such as your name or phone number, you should be aware that it can be viewed by anyone. So I suggest you DO NOT do that. You can use a nick name or if you want, something like “Thames Resident”.

To leave a comment, once that you have clicked on the pencil symbol or the word COMMENTS, you will be taken to a window where other comments are listed, and which includes a pane called "Leave your comment". Once you are there:

  1. Type your comment in the box, and then in the CHOOSE AN IDENTITY section click on the circle (bullet) to the left of "Name/URL".
  2. Then type the name you want to use. In the example below, I chose the name "Tree Lover on Thames". If you consistently use the same name, I'll get to know you. However, anyone else can use your name, so you could be impersonated. The advantage of the blog comments is you can leave a message for others to see, you can see what other people are saying, or what the same guy has said 200 times! HOWEVER, THE ONLY WAY TO GET A MESSAGE TO ME SECURELY IS VIA EMAIL!
  3. Finally, click on the box "Publish Your Comment" to send your comment on its way!

How to Email me
If you want to reach me directly, you can do so via email. The email address I use for my blogs is:

letmethinkaboutthisblog@gmail.com

How to Get to Older Posts
As you scroll through the posts, you will eventually get to a point where this message appears:

Older Post

All you have to do is click on "Older Posts", and you will be taken to the next group of older posts, which otherwise are not visible. After you read the next group of posts, you will again see “Older Post” at the bottom of the page. Clicking on it will get you to the next group. You can repeat this over and over, until you finally get to the oldest, or last post.

How to Get to Older Posts Arranged by Topic
There is a much faster way to get to older posts. That method uses the labels of the post. At the base of each post, you will see the following:


“Posted By” refers to the person who wrote the post. That’s me, and my nickname was “What the Heck”, but I have since, simply changed this to display my email address, which is "LetMeThinkAboutThisBlog@gmail.com".

Beneath that are “Labels”. These are topics and if you click on any topic, for example, “Condominium Board”, it will take you to the blog posts that have that label and contain text about those topics.

Another Way to Get to Labels (otherwise known as TOPICS)
Another way to get to the topics is from the right of the screen. As you scroll down, you will see a list of labels which looks somewhat like this:
What you are looking at is a list of all the Topics and Labels. The numbers in parenthesis, for example (3) is the quantity of posts which refer to that label. If you click on any of these labels, you will be taken to posts that have these labels.

How to Get Back to the Top of the Blog

There is a quick way to return to the topmost entry, which is the most current, for the blog. If you have been navigating through the blog for a while, you may see this word:

Home

All you have to do is use your mouse to “Click” on the word “Home” and you will be returned to “Home”.

There are over a million blogs out there so you can have some fun looking for blogs, and seeing what other people are writing and posting.

HAPPY BLOGGING!

2 comments:

  1. Norman, this is a very good view of what condo living is all about, we pay the assessment so that we don't have to do any of the work required if you owned your own house.. People bought into that concept, but now would like repairs and upkeep done for as little expense as possible. Keep the assessments down to the cost of a Volkswagon beetle, but give me a Cadillac DeVille return.... See my point.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Anonymous:

    Thanks for your encouragement. When I began this, I had the intention of learning how to do a blog, and I decided to create this as a diary of sorts. It has evolved beyond that! I decided to modify the site into something that could provide a service to our condo community.

    I do see your point. Behind this are the different "wants and needs" and expectations of the various unit owners. I think some of these are "mutually exclusive". I haven't seen a single proposal of specifically how we, the unit owners, can have assessment increases of 0% and simultaneously provide adequate funding for operations and reserves. There are costs and benefits to all of the programs here. What are we, as unit owners, willing to give up? I haven't heard anyone, especially the critics, provide a comprehensive list of alternatives.

    ReplyDelete

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