It’s certainly good to know that someone in leadership or management reads/follows this blog. Several days after the previous post referencing the Director of Public Safety’s letter to businesses and vendors seeking enforcement assistance regarding the usage of outdoor rodent bait stations, (1) someone actually took the time to replace the outdated Rules and Regulations (May 2023) posted to the POA website with the current rules that went into effect January 1st.
And yet, strangely, the POA President seems to have forgotten that the Board previously voted 7-0 to approve the enforcement action, as he appeared agitated when questioned on the subject during the Q&A session of the January 2026 board meeting. Distancing himself from the question by quipping, “The board has not even talked about that”, (2a) he turned the question over to the Director of Operations who vaguely referenced some bear deaths in some unknown area of Georgia that may have been attributed to rat poison while failing to offer any rodent prevention alternatives or even acknowledge that the enforcement action had actually been ratified. Click here for a copy of the December 15th letter (3)
As for other posts . . .
For years, this writer has expressed dismay on these pages at leadership’s decision to delay posting of the year end financial statements to mid to late March.
Could it now also be that someone has finally actually listened to the concerns of this writer and so many others?
After an unacceptable practice that was instituted in this General Manager’s first full year of employment, it appears that he has now had an eleventh hour change of heart as he prepares for his exit later this year. Rather than once again delaying access to the financial results, the 2025 year end financial statements were promptly posted to the POA website the day following the January 29th board meeting.
It is unknown what or who facilitated this long over due change in practice. Regardless, the change is a positive step in the right direction.
Lights, cameras, action . . .
Opening up the financial segment of the January open board meeting, the General Manager gushed over the food and beverage performance. While proudly announcing that “we believe we’ve turned a very big corner”, (2b) he applauded the increased sales volume for the month of December while emphasizing that the clubhouse closed out the year $2k better than budget.
But wait.
How and why did the General Manager dodge the fact that food and beverage actually lost $43k for the month of December? (4)
And how and why did the General Manager dodge the fact that despite beating an obviously padded budget, the food and beverage function actually lost $603k for the year which was $30k worse than the previous year? (4)
This performance is what you call a dog and pony show.
Instead, perhaps someone in management should have explained how a recently renovated facility with an $8 million+ price tag that generated $247k in sales for the month (December) could have possibly lost $43k that same month.
Perhaps there is a logical explanation, but it should absolutely be explained.
Note: The clubhouse manager’s salary is not a part of these food and beverage totals as his compensation is included in amenity management that posted a $159k year end loss. (4)
Other financial results . . .
But to be fair, it should be noted that overall the 2025 year turned out to be a lucrative one for the Association financially with a net income from operations totaling $2.2 million. Of that total, $1.7 million of the net income was attributed to the unexpected ERTC windfall payment along with an additional $108k rebate from Cigna Insurance.
Because of that, 2025 net income from operations exceeded budget significantly versus 2024 that was significantly under budget after the $1.5 million write off of clubhouse and Choctaw assets associated with the Renew Big Canoe renovation. (5)
Note: The POA President obviously misspoke when he requested a round of applause for management exceeding budget for five consecutive years. (2c)
Breaking down the financial results a bit further . . .
The Association closed out the year with $13 million in cash. This amount represents a $4.4 million increase over 2024. (4b)
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Of that $13 million, $1.8 million can be attributed to the unexpected ERTC tax payment and Cigna dividend.
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Approximately $5 million was attributed to additional draws against the Wells Fargo line as reimbursement for capital expenditures from prior years.
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Note: Without the ERTC tax payment, Cigna dividend and draws against the line, cash would have decreased $2.3 million.
And finally, the Association closed out the year with $15.4 million in debt. This amount represents an $8.3 million increase over 2024.
Note: As stated in a previous post on this site, it appears that there may be adequate cash to fund the 2026 $9.8 million capital budget. However, after 2026, capital funding is anyone’s best guess. (6)
Off script for a moment with a side note about future capital funding . . .
After virtually depleting all of the Association’s cash reserves in 2026 in order to initiate the reconstruction of the spillway, Lake Petit Dam expenses will also continue into 2027. It is currently unknown what the precise total of those expenses will be.
In addition, as a reminder, the Association is expecting delivery of a $1.7 million fire engine in 2027. This purchase was approved by the 2024 board without the required property owner approval and with any decision about how to pay for such a significant capital purchase deferred to some future board. (7)
In other business . . .
The remainder of the January open board meeting included the approval of the charter and members of the reinvented Planning Committee (formerly known as the Long Range Planning Committee) as well as the approval of procedures and members of the General Manager Search Committee.
Whoa . . . now let’s get the record straight . . .
And finally in yet another question in the January Q&A session, a property owner asked whether leadership had given any thought to becoming a debt free community. After the President’s brief non-committal response, the director responsible for crafting, introducing and requesting approval of the charter for the new Planning Committee eagerly jumped in to give his version of the appropriate answer to the question. (2d)
After referencing needed capital improvements, he noted that the community had responded to the 2021 Voice of the Community survey by endorsing the idea of additional debt to fund those improvements. He then went on to add, “One of the reasons that we have debt is because that’s what the community said that they wanted so they could take advantage of some of the improvements before they die”. (2e)
Really?
On the contrary, page 14 of that 2021 Voice of the Community survey reads very differently with the banner headline,
“Borrowing to fund upgrades received mixed views”.
(8) Click here to view Page 14 of the 2021 survey
In fact, less than 50% of the 2,139 respondents were in favor of additional debt. That means that the opinion of only 963 respondents of a community with over 3,600 properties (and voting weight of over 6,000) was cited as the driving force behind leadership’s decision to place the community over $15 million in debt. Further, it is unknown how many of those respondents may have come from the same household as it appears that there may have been no control on how many responses could be submitted via the same invitation or email.
Note: Repayment of the $15 million Wells Fargo loan now consumes approximately $45 per month of each property’s assessment for the next 14.5 years.
With profound disappointment . . .
It is both alarming and disappointing that this director and the remainder of the board would and could launch a new committee as significant as the Planning Committee with such incredibly inaccurate baseline information and a failure to comprehend what this community really wants.
Maybe it’s time for leadership to go back to the drawing board.
And maybe it’s time for this community to take a stand.
After all, this is our future.
. . . . .
Should you believe the information found in these posts 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, stay warm and thank you for your readership.
Patricia Cross
10438 Big Canoe
References:
1) “Rogue”, January 16th, 2026, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/rogue/
2) Big Canoe POA Board Meeting, January 29th, 2026, video on Youtube at a) 1:44:40; b) 24:10; c) 37:50; d) 1:47:00; e) 1:47:50; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2LYs2efHlA
3) Click here for a copy of the December 15th letter
4) December 2025 Financial Package, a) Financial Summary of Income from Operations, Pg. 9; b) Balance Sheet, Pg. 2; (POAwebsite>login>POA>financials>2025>December)
5) “A time of reckoning”, July 7th, 2025, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/a-time-of-reckoning/
6) Budgetgate, December 1st, 2025, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/budgetgate/
7) “On and on”, April 14th, 2024, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/on-and-on/