Make no mistake. Contrary to the POA President’s opening remarks at the May 30th open board meeting, (1a) the POA has in fact categorically and absolutely refused a property owner’s request for accounting records.
Expecting the best, it is with profound disappointment to now learn that the President purposefully, willfully and publicly made false assurances to the community regarding each property owner’s entitled access to the Association’s accounting records, (1b) when in fact, the Board, presumably acting in “consensus”, has failed to authorize the release of any such records requested by this writer.
The synopsis . . .
As noted in the previous post, (2) https://bcmatters.org/back-to-the-future/ given the President’s emphatic pledge that no NDA would be required in order to access accounting records, this writer’s May 3rd request for records (3) was resubmitted.
And although management attempted to obtain this writer’s signature on a loosely and poorly worded NDA disguised as an acknowledgment, they relented and a June 10th meeting was scheduled with the Director of Finance to presumably “pick up” the records requested.
Unfortunately, upon arrival, it was determined that none of the requested records were available for inspection much less copying.
Instead, only a single sheet typed explanation for a previously unanswered Ask the POA question regarding budget variances (4) was provided rather than any of the records requested. When questioned, the Director of Finance stated that the Board did not authorize her to provide any records other than the information she was offering.
One must seriously ask, what exactly is the Board trying to hide by willfully blocking access to the accounting records?
Red flags, red flags . . .
With only contemporaneous notes of the meeting and recognizing that this summarization could be construed as he said/she said, suffice it to say that the Director of Finance made a particularly remarkable and disturbing statement.
When questioned specifically about the failure to produce the requested December 31st Trial Balance Report, the Director of Finance quickly jumped to declare her personal ownership of that accounting record rather than a record to be shared with the property owners. Really? Wrong.
Neighbors . . . alarm bells should be going off.
Note: Keep in mind also that the Trial Balance Report would actually confirm and support the accuracy, authenticity and validity of management’s explanations regarding the $150k in uncollectible AECD fines and even the $100k in food and beverage inventory that has not been accounted for.
The denial . . .
But for whatever reason, our elected Board of Directors has chosen to disregard Georgia law found at code section 14-3-1602 by denying a property owner’s access to requested accounting records. That course of action is clearly a violation of their fiduciary duty as it could potentially subject the Association to unnecessary risks and liability.
Without further discussion . . .
Needless to say, this writer has once again submitted a third request for accounting records (5) as originally requested on May 3rd. However, given that these discussions regarding the requested accounting records have consumed posts on this site for over two months, (6) those interested in any updates on the subject may contact this writer privately at thepcrosses@gmail.com as there is so much more to talk about here.
Going off script . . .
That said and as a side note, it might be noteworthy to mention that during the June 10th meeting, the Director of Finance went completely off script by seeking to explain the rationale for deeming $150k in AECD fines as uncollectible (2) while also stating that the Association’s accountants, Mauldin & Jenkins “really like” the way the POA handles those fines.
If that’s the case, one must wonder why management was so reluctant to provide the community with any explanation.
Regardless, considering that management took three months to adjust the year end books in anticipation of the annual audit by the accountants, the Association may likely receive a clean opinion from M&J.
As for that year end 2023 . . .
It can not be forgotten that net income was reduced at least $250k during the month of December, ($150k for uncollectible AECD fines and $100k for unaccounted food and beverage inventory) and yet,
Management never bothered to inform the community until repeatedly confronted with questions.
One quick snippet of current financial news to think about until the next time . . .
Despite a $329k increase in property owner assessments just through April 2024, the Association has now posted a ($19,491) net operating loss after four months of the 2024 year. (7) And yet, the financial reports reflect a positive variance to plan which appears to be the only thing that matters to the General Manager.
But then, one must ask, why would any organization actually budget a net operating loss? Although characterized by the previous POA Treasurer as a “no-fluff” budget, could it be that the budget was built in a way to likely guarantee a positive variance?
Note: With a complete lack of attention to actually reducing expenses, it seems that every new dollar of revenue has been immediately consumed.
It is also important to note that the only things keeping the total comprehensive income afloat and in the black are the capital contribution fees and the board designated capital assessments which are not attributed to or used for the general operating budget.
Not a good outlook especially with significant additional debt on the horizon.
Wrapping it up for now . . .
Remember, this is still “our money”.
And we are entitled to know and understand how every dollar is spent, invested or squandered.
Further, as documentation of the above, each and every property owner is entitled to the accounting records of the Association despite leadership’s veiled tactics to delay and deny access to same.
So what now?
. . . . .
If you believe the information contained on this site is important, please continue to share and pass it on. Should you wish to see additional articles posted in the future, please subscribe for an email notification or check back frequently. And as always, feel free to contact me at thepcrosses@gmail.com for questions or further discussion. Meanwhile, take care, stay safe and thank you for your readership.
Patricia Cross
10438 Big Canoe
References:
1) Big Canoe POA Board meeting, May 30th, 2024, video on Youtube at a) 1:54; and b) 9:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KxXq_37GFw
2) “Back to the future”, June 4th, 2024, bcmatters.org https://bcmatters.org/back-to-the-future/
3) May 3rd request for specific accounting records
4) AskThePOA Ticket #13063 and AskThePOA Response#13063
5) third request for accounting records
6) https://bcmatters.org/circling-the-wagons-part-one/, April 2nd, 2024
https://bcmatters.org/always-something-new-in-poa-land/, May 3rd, 2024
https://bcmatters.org/update-always-something-new-in-poa-land/, May 13th, 2024
https://bcmatters.org/back-to-the-future/, June 4th, 2024
7) April 2024 Financial Package, Summary of Operations, pg. 1
(POAwebsite>login>POA>financials>2024>April)
Oh my…Gulp! I gave kudos to the POA board too quickly it seems. Keeping financial information from property owners is against Georgia law. Why are we breaking the law?
Having the Director of Finance, who is not a Big Canoe resident and is paid a six figure annual salary by property owners, declare her “personal ownership of that accounting record” is just plain questionable.
Why are hundreds of thousands of dollars unaccounted for or are unable to be collected?
The accounting firm of Mauldin & Jenkins hired by the POA seems fine with these unexplained losses. Maybe it’s time to find a new CPA firm or perhaps file a forensic audit.
What is going on here?