According to this article in yesterday's Macomb Daily, the Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees voted on Tuesday night to raise the rates they charge us for water and sewer service by almost 10%%.
This is the second consecutive year that the Board has given their residents this kind of a "Christmas present". Last year at their Dec. 15, 2009 meeting the Board approved a 9% increase that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2010.
Tuesday night's vote means that the Shelby Twp. water rates will rise from $2.873/100 cu.ft. to $3.157/ 100 cu. ft. - an increase of 9.9% that will go into effect on January 1, 2011 [details here on pages 110 and 111].
What is driving the latest 9.9% water rate increase here in Shelby Twp? By comparing the information provided by the Shelby Twp. DPW to justify the 2010 and 2011 rate increases, it appears to me that the cost of water purchased from Detroit is anticipated to rise only about 5.7% in 2011. However, revenues associated with new construction are estimated to be down by about 14.9% in 2011 and must be made up by the existing water customers to help cover the fixed operational costs of the Shelby Twp. water department.
With this latest increase, Shelby Twp. residents will be paying a water rate that is 1.65 times higher than their neighbors in Macomb Twp. [source].
This is the second consecutive year that I failed to anticipate a last-minute water rate increase when I prepared the annual budget for the Manors ("fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me").
What this rate increase means to our Association's budget is that in 2011 (as in 2010), we will again spend about $3,000 more on water for lawn irrigation than we would have otherwise spent and will therefore have to find offsets elsewhere in the budget to cover any overage in the budget's water line item.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Annual Meeting set for Jan. 19, 2011
You should have received a letter in today's mail from our property management company, Associa Kramer-Triad, announcing details of the upcoming 2011 Annual Meeting of Co-owners.
The 2011 Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday evening, Jan. 19, 2011 at the Shelby Township Municipal Building. Sign-in begins at 6:00PM and the meeting will begin at 7:00PM. Compared to the meeting room at Utica HS that we have used in the past, this venue is much larger and is available without charge.
It is critically important that we have at least 35% of the Manors units represented at the meeting (at least 59 of the 166 units), either by proxy or in-person. We struggled to meet that requirement for last year's meeting. If you are the least bit unsure of your ability to physically attend the meeting, please sign and return the General Proxy form that will arrive in the mail in early January. You can always change your mind later and attend the meeting in person (your signed General Proxy will be returned to you at the sign-in). Call me at 586-726-0317 if you have any questions about filling out the General Proxy or if you would like me to pick it up from you and take it to the meeting on your behalf. If you prefer to attend the meeting but need a ride, please contact me and I will try to arrange for someone to get you there and back.
As you may have noticed in the letter you received, we will be electing only one person to the Board of Directors at this Annual Meeting. If nominated, I will run for another one-year term as your representative on the Board. It is my hope that the two Board members representing the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund will see fit to hold the Transition Meeting later in 2011, at which time we would elect additional co-owners to the Board and take full control of our Association.
In the meantime, I have submitted a proposed 2011 budget to the other Board members for their feedback and approval. My proposed 2011 budget maintains the 2010 revenue and spending levels. For Units 16-167, the monthly Association fee would remain at $175 and there is another $420 Additional Assessment to pay for Phase 2 of the exterior painting project. The monthly fee for Units 1-14 would remain at $60.
The 2011 Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday evening, Jan. 19, 2011 at the Shelby Township Municipal Building. Sign-in begins at 6:00PM and the meeting will begin at 7:00PM. Compared to the meeting room at Utica HS that we have used in the past, this venue is much larger and is available without charge.
It is critically important that we have at least 35% of the Manors units represented at the meeting (at least 59 of the 166 units), either by proxy or in-person. We struggled to meet that requirement for last year's meeting. If you are the least bit unsure of your ability to physically attend the meeting, please sign and return the General Proxy form that will arrive in the mail in early January. You can always change your mind later and attend the meeting in person (your signed General Proxy will be returned to you at the sign-in). Call me at 586-726-0317 if you have any questions about filling out the General Proxy or if you would like me to pick it up from you and take it to the meeting on your behalf. If you prefer to attend the meeting but need a ride, please contact me and I will try to arrange for someone to get you there and back.
As you may have noticed in the letter you received, we will be electing only one person to the Board of Directors at this Annual Meeting. If nominated, I will run for another one-year term as your representative on the Board. It is my hope that the two Board members representing the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund will see fit to hold the Transition Meeting later in 2011, at which time we would elect additional co-owners to the Board and take full control of our Association.
In the meantime, I have submitted a proposed 2011 budget to the other Board members for their feedback and approval. My proposed 2011 budget maintains the 2010 revenue and spending levels. For Units 16-167, the monthly Association fee would remain at $175 and there is another $420 Additional Assessment to pay for Phase 2 of the exterior painting project. The monthly fee for Units 1-14 would remain at $60.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
