Happy to Spend The Money

The unit owners in buildings 42, 17, 11, and 8 expressed gratitude, in recent special assessment meetings, that their buildings are scheduled to be worked on, reported property manager Wendi Hill.

Many of us that have sat through Special Assessment meetings, either as recipients of the Assessment or as BOD members passing the assessment. Many or most of us have seen how very upsetting and contentious those proceedings can be. If the property manager's report is accurate, then I am happy that the parties involved were able to make the best of what is very often a difficult situation.

It is worth noting that there are some very unhappy unit owners currently at TAJ. There has been a movement to initiate a recall election and to replace the members of the BOD. Several emails from that group have been sent out to residents/owners at TAJ. I would share the content of the emails but they are anonymous and I make it a practice to not publish material from sources that I cannot verify, especially if it is controversial. So while I cannot in good conscience publish their letters, I will point out that not everyone is happy with special assessments and the construction work here at TAJ.

Special Assessment Meeting for multiple buildings

Even though I am late in posting this picture, I'm putting it up here just for the record.

Board of Director meetings with multiple buildings this week

I was only able to attend during a short period of time.  While I was there only two of the eight owners from the specified building showed up.  The meeting was for the purpose of implementing a payment plan to collect $99/month from those unit owners in buildings that have received a special assessment and have not already paid their assessed amounts.  The board was well-prepared for this difficult task.  They had handouts that  clearly communicated the appropriate figures.  They were all willing and able to spend time responding to unit owner questions and concerns.

Special Assessment Meeting, July 8th 2009, 7:30pm

I assume that the affected buildings received more full notice, but for those others who might care, the time of the Special Assessment meeting tonight is to be 7:30pm, according to Beth G in the office.

PS. I attended this meeting very briefly. It was packed with unit owners, as you can imagine. I was told by one owner in the audience that the BOD had disclosed their intentions to, in the future, levy a Special Assessment for the refurbishment and/or roofing of their buildings. The details of when and how the Special Assessments would be passed were apparently not clearly defined or agreed upon.

Special Assessments for Buildings 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 28, 29, 42

According to a recent flyer, buildings 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 28, 29, and 42 will be receiving a Special Assessment on Wednesday, October 8th at 7:30pm. Those buildings have been selected for the next phase of refurbishments, and so it is likely (but unconfirmed) that the Special Assessment is for that purpose. I have no information about the amount of the Special Assessments currently under consideration.

I served for two years on the BOD directors, during which time there were several building refurbishment projects. Also, as a unit owner I faced my own Special Assessment for the refurbishment of my building. From those experiences I know that the cost of some past building refurbishment projects has totaled as high as approximately $35,000.00 per unit (some more, some less).

There was a time when we had a relationship with Floridian Community Bank that allowed us to offer payment terms through a construction loan. The details of providing that service makes the accounting hugely complicated (and apparently beyond the scope of our previous accounting firm's abilities). It is not known if that situation still exists, or what the terms of the Special Assessment are going to be.