Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1356325
| OHCC LIVING | APRIL 2021 | 5 As usual, bad news appears first. There's none, so it didn't. This report is more timely than those you've seen in the past – it is about FEBRUARY 2021 performance, yet we're still in March. Daylight Savings Time had nothing to do with it! Our Dear Leader, Greg Kusiak, shifted financial reporting schedule and meeting dates – et voilà! Your Executive Finance Committee met on March 17, and reviewed our financials including account variances (from budget) over $5k, reconciliation of accounts, our General Ledger, our deposits (via Morgan Stanley), and other data, and discovered no major issues. We're fine, as reported to the Board. I'm delighted to confirm that the ARC advance deposit system is going… going…. Ending the deposit system means that our average monthly cash balances will be reduced by about $35k because the HOA will no longer hold your money as ransom. The accounts are balanced, since our liability (to repay those sums) will also go away. Each month we'll save approximately 13.74 percent of a tree, homeowner frustration, and lots of bookkeeping. THE GOLF COURSE CONTRACT HAS BEEN SIGNED! We have already issued checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and expect on-site work to commence soon. When you notice a reduction in reserve funds, remember – this is where it went. For the sake of transparency: we've been "saving up" for this, and the entire process including the contract can be viewed online at your pleasure. The well is still just a hole in the ground, and adding power and distribution plumbing to make it useful will cost something in the vicinity of $800k. Because that's new money (compared to the golf course fund), you will be asked to support that expenditure. The result will dramatically reduce our water purchase costs. My board colleague Paul Bellomo is proposing that gas-powered landscaping/gardening equipment be transitioned to battery power. That's a great idea but will cost a lot of money, and financial aspects of it fall into my territory. I've proposed that we look for an institutional, government, or industrial grant that will help us package our project. We would quantify the transition and resulting environmental improvements, and the grantor would have the right to transport the project to similar developments. We'll probably spend money to get this done, but a grant may offset the cost. The reserves analysis, prepared by Advanced Reserve Solutions, is based on general information regarding the effect of time and usage upon certain of our assets, and it predicts the cost of replacing or repairing them. I'm concerned that predicted maintenance may not be specific to OHCC's circumstances and environment, so I am thinking of ways we can validate that analysis. If you've never looked at it, you should – it's millions of your dollars. Go to our website, search for "analysis." My comments regarding the reserves analysis are not intended to be negative – we're required to do it, it has just been done, and the result is excellent. If you've lived in an HOA with financial problems, you'll be comforted by the fact that OHCC has ample reserves. If an OHCC home is going on the market, shouldn't Realtors explain this to potential buyers? Shouldn't that mass of backup money raise property values? Here's a serious opportunity and I invite your comments: Clubhouse/HOA wifi cost $12,000 per year or more. I've proposed that we establish an OHCC-wide *FREE* wifi service, branching from those sources via the same sort of MESH system that distributes free "municipal wifi" in many cities around the world. With wifi throughout OHCC, every house will be online. Then, by using an Amazon Alexa or Hey Google device, each house can have voice communication with the front gate – enabling the replacement of our archaic "emergency" system (which works only if you can reach the button from the floor, and only if you have a $$$ landline). If you like this, please note that it will be costly to develop because wifi across 350 acres requires a lot of $$$ hardware. Let me know if you think this project has merit and is worth a significant investment. But remember, that investment will be offset by the cost of your existing Cox or DSL connection – which will no longer be necessary. Opinion? As usual, if you have suggestions regarding the content and format of this report – tell me directly! Here's where we stand as of the end of February (remember, our fiscal year ends on March 31): Treasurer's Report By Henry Eisenson, OHCC Treasurer-In-Training Item as of... 12/31/20 1/31/21 2/28/21 Assets (cash, receivables, reserves fund, capital improvement, etc.) 7.8M 7.7M 7.3M Current liabilities (bills to be paid, known obligations 444k 450k 437k Total reserve liabilities (to pay for predicted replacement/repairs) 5.6M 5.4M 5.0M Total equity (like profit) 958k 979k 1.0M Year to date (2021) cumulative surplus 255k 309k 395k Summary: we're fine!