Back to the future . . .

Isn’t it amazing what can be accomplished when neighbors join together to question or protest actions or decisions by elected leadership that are considered unjust, unfair or unwise? This power of community is clearly demonstrated by the board’s May 30th announcement that their previous decision to censor and delete the Q&A sessions from the recorded board videos had been revisited and reversed. (1a)

Note:  More information regarding the original censorship decision can be found in a previous post on this site. (2) https://bcmatters.org/it-was-there-until-it-wasnt/

And while appreciation is certainly extended to those directors that turned their ear back to their actual constituency, rather than the whims and objections of a GM, the real kudos go to each and every property owner that stood up and pushed back against this injustice.

Additional note:  Information regarding the reversed vote count should be forthcoming when the May 28th closed board meeting minutes are posted to the POA website.

Tidying up the mess . . .

Given the referenced outpouring of emails, correspondence and Ask the POA requests, leadership as well as management directed their attention to a variety of subjects, previously unanswered questions and efforts to “set the record straight”. The May 30th open board meeting was informative while also unusual and unique.

More good news . . .

In his opening comments, the POA President emphatically and assertively sought to “set the record straight” by insisting that a signed non-disclosure agreement would never be required from any property owner requesting copies of accounting records. That was certainly good news for this writer to hear as well as any other property owner seeking those records that might be deterred by an NDA requirement. (1b)

Note: Interestingly, no response was ever received to this writer’s May 13th correspondence asking the board for an acceptable alternative to an executed non-disclosure agreement. (3) https://bcmatters.org/update-always-something-new-in-poa-land/

However, given this much appreciated clarification, albeit public rather than a direct response, this writer’s previous request for accounting records has now been resubmitted.

More loose ends . . .

The General Manager even revisited discussions from that April 25th censored Q&A session by assuring the audience that the issue with the rude and aggressive AECD letters (4) https://bcmatters.org/always-something-new-in-poa-land/ had been “fixed”. (1c)

Note: Apparently the board’s reversal of their censorship decision was not retroactive as the April 25th Q&A session has not been reinstated as of this posting.

More questions . . .

The GM also sought to address a question that had been circulating throughout the community for two months regarding the $188k variance to administrative operating expense. (1d) (3) (4) (5) https://bcmatters.org/circling-the-wagons-part-one/

With the AECD remarkably still in the mix, as demonstrated in the GM’s slide shown here , (6) it was stated that although AECD fines generated in 2023 totaled $288k, it was determined by management that $150k of those fines might not be collectible thereby reducing architectural fines to a net total of $138k for the year.

Note:  AECD fines totaling $138k were referenced in the GM’s January 25th slide presentation. (7)  However, there is nothing in the posted year end financial statements to indicate that AECD revenue was actually reduced $150k as asserted by the GM.  Perhaps the GM was confused as it appears that the deduction was actually posted as an operating expense to the administration department via an entry to bad debt expense (with the offset to Bad Debt Allowance) thereby creating the variance.

Regardless, one must certainly wonder, why management failed to mention this extraordinary transaction in the January 25th financial presentation or answer questions over the last two months regarding that variance.

And even more questions . . .

And although the GM touted this transaction as a “very conservative accounting approach”, it is important to acknowledge that $150k in potentially uncollectible AECD fines represents a bad debt ratio of  52%! This is unacceptable which leads us to another set of questions.

• • Why were these fines deemed potentially uncollectible?

• • What criteria is used to deem a fine uncollectible?

• • Could it be that the AECD is over zealously and unreasonably assessing fines to the property owners? If so, shouldn’t this be stopped?

• • If not unreasonable, with an arsenal of collection resources including the ability to lien properties if necessary, why has management deemed these fines uncollectible?

Perhaps these are questions that should be addressed before the Association moves forward to take on $15 million in new debt that will be required to be repaid with our money.

Think about it.

. . . . .

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

Note: As this post has evolved into more of an update of previous posts, current financial discussions and analyses will be reserved for a future article.

References:

1)    Big Canoe POA Board meeting, May 30^th, 2024, video on Youtube at a) 57:55; b) at 1:35 through 9:27; c) at 42:00; d) at 46:25 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KxXq_37GFw

2)    “It was there until it wasn’t”, May 22^nd, 2024, bcmatters.org https://bcmatters.org/it-was-there-until-it-wasnt/

3)    “Update: Always something new in POA land”, May 13^th, 2024, bcmatters.org https://bcmatters.org/update-always-something-new-in-poa-land/

4)   “Always something new in POA land”, May 3^rd, 2024, bcmatters.org https://bcmatters.org/always-something-new-in-poa-land/

5)    “Circling the Wagons: Part One”, April 2nd, 2024, bcmatters.org https://bcmatters.org/circling-the-wagons-part-one/

6)   General Manager’s slide of adjustments to AECD fines – GM’s slide shown here

7)   Big Canoe POA Board meeting, January 25^th, 2024, video on Youtube at 24:20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8EeqiaNK1Q