Hide and seek . . .

It was different. It was long. Lacking property owner interaction but filled with guest appearances from staff members and committee chairs, the August 27^th open board meeting with a reformatted agenda is now blurred history. Initially, it was easy to feel overwhelmed by the abundance of detail being broadcast only to step away wondering exactly what if anything substantive had been disclosed or learned.

It was a performance.

Thus, after a brief hiatus from any extensive analyses of the Association’s finances, perhaps this writer should delve a little deeper just one more time.

Fill in the blanks . . .

Currently serving his second three year term, the Finance Committee Chairman took the podium to provide a review of the year to date financial results.

It should be emphasized that unlike the previous twenty years, neither the Director of Finance nor the General Manager participated in the discussion of the financial results.

Further, the Chairman’s slideshow presentation was seriously lacking as it did not include any disclosure of the actual July financial performance, cash flow reports or capital expenditures. (1a) While the monthly performance results can be found by logging on to the POA website for the complete financial package, (2) one must go through a significant mathematical exercise to even determine the capital expenditures for the month.

For that matter, one might wonder if the Board was even privy to the July financial results (prior to the posting to the POA website) as no indication of those discussions has been found in any of the closed session board meetings.

If not, the entire board has breached their fiduciary responsibility by fully delegating those discussions to a committee comprised of non-elected volunteers.

An elevated view . . .

Instead, it seems the Chairman found it more important to emphasize the stature of the Finance and Audit Committee over all things financial while summarizing discussions from the recent committee meeting to include his announcement to the room that the meeting began at 9:02 and was adjourned at 11:32.

Good to know.

Using the coined phrases “I guarantee you” and “I promise you”, the Chairman went on to discuss the ongoing budget process by assuring the room that the Committee would not approve a 2027 budget that contained “willy nilly spending”. (1b) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwasFUAhM04 at 52:35

With Association debt increasing significantly and capital spending exceeding $39 million over the previous five years, this was certainly encouraging news.

Note: The Chairman was a voting member of the Committee four of the five years referenced.

Who’s running the show now? . . .

And although budget review is outlined in the Finance Committee charter, it appears that the Committee is now overseeing other financial functions of management contrary to Board Procedure 300.4 which states that a “committee shall not direct the activities of any employee of the POA.”

For example, after requesting the balance sheet corresponding to the posted June income statement that was generated by the new software application (Vena), the Director of Finance denied this writer’s request by responding, “The financial statements on the website are the Finance Committee approved financial statements to be provided to all Property Owners”. (3)  AskThePOA Response#21893

Interesting.

In another example, “the Finance Committee advised management not to release the Reserve Study until completion of the 2027 Capital Budget process . . . “ (4)

Very interesting and more to come on that subject in a later post.

Considering the above verbiage, it certainly does appear that the Finance Committee is now directing the financial function of the Association.

Note: The Finance Committee even established a sub-committee to develop a recommendation for the new General Manager regarding the most effective way to present financial information to the property owners. (4)

One must wonder if the Board of Directors is aware of these directives.

In fact, one might also wonder if the financial function of the Association has been taken over by the Finance Committee prior to the installation of the new general manager.

Numbers don’t lie until they do . . .

And now, after all of the directives put forth by the Finance Committee, the posting of the July financial package to the POA website alarmingly disclosed a Vena generated balance sheet that does not reconcile. In addition, it contains changes in both previous month and year end totals. Rather than opine, this writer will simply state the facts. (2) (5)

• • The previous month’s cash balances (June 2026) in the operating accounts and the capital fund have been altered.

  • The July cash balance reflected in the capital fund will not reconcile using the adjusted balance from the previous month.

  • The previous month’s accounts receivable, fixed assets and accumulated depreciation have all been adjusted.

  • Current asset totals do not add up. And this is a software application?

And most alarmingly, the December 2025 year end totals to fixed assets and accumulated depreciation have been adjusted an additional $289k. Keep in mind these changes were made after the year end financial statements were audited by Mauldin & Jenkins.

Further, this writer alerted management (and the board) via Ask the POA to a previous discrepancy in those totals on July 8^th. Responding over one month later, the Director of Finance stated that discrepancy was a “classification difference in our financial statements and the audited financial statements”.  

And now, since this writer’s questions and after the M&J audit, the discrepancy has increased and additional changes have been made to both accounts. 

There are no acceptable explanations or excuses for these types of issues.

Note: These financial packages have been archived by this writer lest management decides to remove and replace with another edited version.

Additional Note: Given management’s propensity to making unexplained retroactive changes to the financial documents, that information has become unreliable. Therefore, this writer might well refrain from further “public” analysis of the Association’s finances in the future.

But for now, there’s still those food and beverage metrics . . .

It would be most unfair for this writer to close without highlighting the tremendously improved financial performance of the food and beverage function. With a year to date loss of only $57k, the Finance Committee Chairman applauded management and the entire food and beverage staff.

This writer applauds the food and beverage team as well.

But . . .

Isn’t it time that someone at least questioned whether the current staff is really that good or the previous staff was that bad? And why the current general manager allowed the astounding losses to continue throughout his tenure without taking any appropriate remedial action? Keep in mind prior management was chastised for similar losses.

As money continued to fly out of the coffers, was the F&B function simply mismanaged or what? For years, this writer and others have requested a forensic audit.

That request remains.

And yet, upon the very arrival of a new general manager, the food and beverage financial performance has suddenly become almost stellar.

Meanwhile, F&B losses totaled almost $2.4 million over the previous five years with the current GM at the helm.

Hardly a stellar look back.

A bit of nostalgia . . .

And now as the current GM prepares for his retirement, the accolades for his achievements are pouring in with him personally counting the food and beverage turnaround as his greatest accomplishment. (6)

That said, perhaps a few additional financial highlights might be useful.

Note: All financial details will be comprised of the complete years 2021 through 2025 and are taken from the audited financial statements prepared by Mauldin & Jenkins. (7)

• • As noted above, food and beverage losses totaled $2.4 million as follows: ($19k) under the purview of Bobby Jones Links; ($422k); ($721k); ($575k); and ($617k).

  • Capital expenditures totaled $39.6 million with large projects including the renovation of the Creek nine and Choctaw nine golf courses; clubhouse renovation; and the Lake Petit Dam lower level outlet repair.

  • Debt increased $9 million

  • Cash increased $5.2 million (funded by debt)

• • Assessments were at $306 in 2021 and increased 31% to $400 in 2025.

The legacy is undeniable in the numbers.

In summary . . .

For whatever reason, it appears that management and leadership have engaged in a significant amount of “housecleaning” and reorganization prior to the arrival of the new general manager. And that is disturbing.

Let’s hope he is allowed to do his job with eyes wide open.

Meanwhile, this writer extends a welcome filled with hopefulness.

. . . . .

Should you believe the information found in this post is important, please continue to share with your friends and neighbors wherever possible. As for those who 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 directly at thepcrosses@gmail.com for questions or further discussion. Meanwhile, take care and thank you for your readership.

Patricia Cross

10438 Big Canoe

References:

1) Big Canoe POA Board Meeting, August 27^th, 2026, video on Youtube at a) 40:25; b) 52:35 ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwasFUAhM04

2) July 2026 Financial Package, pgs. 1 -7 ; a) Balance Sheet, pg. 2 (POAwebsite>login>POA>financials>2026>July)

3) AskThePOA Response#21893

4) Finance Committee Meeting Minutes, April 24^th, 2026 (POAwebsite>login>POA>Committees>Finance>Minutes>2026>April)

5) June 2026 Financial Package, Comparative Balance Sheet, pg. 2 (POAwebsite>login>POA>financials>2026>June)

6) “After six years at the helm, Scott Auer looks back on his Big Canoe journey”, September 2026, Smoke Signals, https://smokesignalsnews.com/news/big_canoe/after-six-years-at-the-helm-scott-auer-looks-back-on-his-big-canoe-journey/article_9c513816-96ea-4738-9d46-22e707880734.html?utm_source=smokesignalsnews.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Flists%2Fweekly%2F%3F-dc%3D1788365467&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

7) 2025 Audited Financial Statement, dated June 25^th, 2026, by Mauldin & Jenkins

2024 Audited Financial Statement, dated June 27^th, 2025, by Mauldin & Jenkins

2023 Audited Financial Statement, dated June 27^th, 2024, by Mauldin & Jenkins

2022 Audited Financial Statement, dated June 27^th, 2023, by Mauldin & Jenkins

2021 Audited Financial Statement, dated June 23^rd, 2022, by Mauldin & Jenkins

(POAwebsite>login>POA>financials>AuditedFinancials>2025,2024,2023)