HOA finances ahead of the 2027 budget

Dues and the 95% assumption

Dues went from $85 a month (2024) to $90 (2025) and $93 (2026). The budget counts on collecting 95% of dues, but the statements book the full monthly billing, so dues income has come in about 5% over budget every year: $97,920 over in 2025 and an estimated $101,538 over in 2026. Owner receivables were $27,403 at the end of August, about 1.4% of a year's billing, so most of that 5% is collected. Each $1 a month on the dues is about $21,800 a year.

Where the extra went

The Board moved extra money from operating to reserves to keep the operating account near $150,000: $123,000 in May 2025 and $71,000 in June 2026. 2025 still ended with an operating loss of $82,592, because spending ran $47,217 over budget (insurance $24,135, pool repairs $32,369 and social activities $16,775 over), and the operating account held $4,356 on December 31, 2025. For 2026 the recommended estimate points to an operating surplus of roughly $89,000 after the extra transfer. Using last year's September to December pattern instead gives about break-even, mostly because of late water and lifeguarding bills in 2025, so the real result depends on those bills and on the December insurance premium.

Lines to watch

Sprinkler repairs were $42,872 by August against $23,000 for the year (controller replacement, coverage upgrades and main-line breaks, per the minutes). Pool lifeguarding is heading for about $162,000 against $150,000. Pool supplies were three times the budget by August. Water looks $20,000 under budget, but in 2025 $61,643 of the year's water was booked from September to December, so that may disappear. Insurance was budgeted at $63,000 after $68,635 in 2025; the next renewal is December 22, 2026. The MSI management fee rises to $14,580 a month in 2027 under the contract approved in October 2025, and trash pricing for 2027 was requested from Waste Connections (contract renews November 1, 2027).

Reserves: plan vs reality

Reserves have been spent well below plan: $498,224 of the $1,132,699 planned for 2025 (44%) and $187,712 of $672,779 planned for 2026 by August, $82,139 of it on concrete and pool repairs that were not in the plan. Reserve cash grew from $1.73 million in January 2025 to $2.08 million in August 2026. The 20-year plan sets the 2027 contribution at $543,164 ($24.94 per home per month) with $473,715 of reserve spending. It budgets $40,000 for playgrounds in 2027 and $75,000 in 2028, while the bids the Board received in September 2026 for replacing the first two playgrounds were about $785,000 to $800,000 together. A $565,581 full fence replacement was turned down in September 2026, and the Board wants fence bids because the fences are near the end of their life. MSI is updating the 20-year plan to go with the draft 2027 budget, so these numbers will change.

Planned reserve projects that were not done: pushed back, or not needed?

Of the 19 items in the 2025 reserve spending plan, 15 had nothing spent in 2025, together $471,059 (see the 2025 table above). Playgrounds got $44,373 of $250,000, because the Board turned down the replacement bids in May 2025 and paid for repairs instead. That month the minutes note that some scheduled reserve items might not be done that year and that MSI would move those amounts to other years of the 20-year plan (Board minutes 5/20/2025, p.2). The minutes don't say which items or why.

The 20-year plan revised in November 2025 shows where they went. None of the 15 was dropped: every one is scheduled again in a later year, and most carry a >>> in the year they were due. The plan has no legend, but the marks read as "moved to a later year".

• Into 2026: pool pumps ($34,821), elevator repairs ($48,268) and the volleyball court ($7,616). Through August 2026, $1,216 of that $90,705 had been spent. After 2026 the plan does not schedule elevator repairs again.
• Into 2028: concrete walkways ($100,000), Skyline locker room ($100,000), Skyline re-roof ($23,501), siding ($25,517), doors ($23,470) and the Skyline awning ($10,419): $282,907 in all. That helps make 2028 the biggest spending year in the whole plan ($855,155). The planned balance then falls to $1.43 million in 2029 and $1.26 million in 2030.
• Further out: pavilion repainting to 2027, the asphalt sealcoat to 2029 (after $71,710 of asphalt work at the clubhouse lot in 2024), backflow preventers, lifeguard chairs and Skyline repainting to 2030, and pet-waste stations to 2038, thirteen years later.
• Deferred more than once: the plan marks two moves for backflow preventers, pool pumps, the Skyline locker room, lifeguard chairs, the Skyline awning and re-roof, siding, doors and the lap-lane markers.
• 2026 so far: nothing spent on the pool pumps, lap-lane markers, spa heater, elevator or fitness equipment ($178,523 planned), $84,166 of $400,000 on landscaping and $11,550 of $75,000 on playgrounds. At the same time $82,139 went to concrete and pool repairs that were not in the plan.

Questions this raises:

• For each item not done in 2025: was it deferred because an inspection found it in better shape than expected (so it was not needed yet), because of contractor timing or cost, or for another reason? Who decides, and does the Board approve each deferral?
• Items moved twice already (backflow preventers, locker room, re-roof, siding, doors, pool pumps): are they still needed? Should they get a new condition check or come out of the plan, rather than moving forward again?
• Pet-waste stations went from 2025 to 2038 and the asphalt sealcoat from 2025 to 2029. Are these really deferrals, or were they found not to be needed?
• Elevator repairs ($48,268) were planned for 2025, then 2026, and are not in the plan after that. Will the work happen this year, and if not, where does it go?
• With $282,907 of 2025 work moved into 2028, can $855,155 of projects realistically be done in one year? Should some be spread over 2027 to 2029, or reprioritized next to the playground replacements (bids about $785,000 for two parks) and fencing, neither of which is in the plan at that size?
• The 2026 concrete repairs ($57,139, not in the plan): are they part of the $100,000 concrete walkways item now set for 2028, so that amount should shrink?
• Money not spent stayed in reserves, which is why the balance is well above plan ($2.08 million in August 2026). Is that cushion already spoken for by the 2028 projects and playgrounds, or does it change how much the 2027 budget needs to transfer to reserves?
• Will the updated 20-year plan that MSI brings with the draft 2027 budget show which 2026 items roll into 2027, and mark each deferral with a reason?

Questions for the 2027 budget

Should the budget keep the 95% collection assumption, given how little goes uncollected? How will the playground replacements and fencing be paid for, and does the reserve contribution need to change? Which 2026 overruns (sprinklers, lifeguarding, pool supplies) should be built into the 2027 lines?