CAI-NJ December 2021

WE HAVE ‘GOOD’ NEWS By Don Cabrera, CMCA, Cabrera Property Management

W hen you hear a board (or a member thereof) say, “Good news — we kept our condo fees the same again” at owner’s meetings, you might start to cringe. Why, you may ask? You know your company made the professional recommendation to the board members to consider increasing their fees after a full detailed review of current year expenses and consideration to the next year and any other planned projects. We see all around us in business and even in our own personal lives that materials, labor, insurance, utilities, and all of the other expenses are going up because the companies that offer the service or supply to the associa- tion are also experiencing increased costs. Generally, we think most people know that. Owners will not question it

as they may prefer to pay less. In the end, it may hurt the association, especially if fees have remained the same for many years. However, there are associations that do listen to their management company and/or professionals who have given them good advice. Sometimes there’s enough “fluff” in a budget to get by at times. But what if something unforeseen happens? What if the board wants to do something good for the association but cannot be due to lack of funding? It happens often. You can view community association budgeting much like running a municipal government. Taxes generally do not stay the same and, they most certainly do not go down. It is always better to increase annually to keep CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 46

It is always better to increase annually to keep up with market increases. If there’s a surplus of funds, the association can simply transfer the funds to capital reserve funding...

Rasi Bhadramani/iStock/Getty Images Plus

44

D E C E M B E R , 2 0 2 1