Can Board mandate no-opt out garbage service??

the announcement:
"The Board of Directors has recommended initiating a community-wide trash service. The rate per household shown on the spreadsheet is a monthly charge that will be billed to the Association (not individual homeowners), most likely quarterly in advance and will be added as a line item on the Master Association Budget, and will result in an increase in the annual dues for the additional service. Once a decision is made to go with a community-wide trash company, it will be mandatory for all residents to participate in the expense, no one can “opt out” similar to the pool management contract, residents pay for the pool service whether they use the pool or not. It will be a weekly service with recycling and yard waste pickup."

we have a county garbage/ recycling center on the border of our community of 1200+ homes.

Is this legal? the development is not a private, gated community.

What should I look for in the CCRs and ByLaws to see if they can mandate this?

No, it is Not a private nor gated community.

that is the point, we don't want to pay as we are satisfied now with driving a 1/4 mile and doing it ourselves and not paying for any service.

Not gated and not sure of the technical aspects of "private" but the county maintains the roads and such. There iss an HOA and I am a member. The CCR do not address trash pickup at this time although I just now found the section below that the Board ascertains its power:

7.10 - Provision of services.

The Association may provide, or provide for, services and facilities for the members and their units, and shall be authorized to enter into and terminate contracts or agreements with other entities, including Declarant, to provide such services and facilities. The Board may charge use or service fees for any such services and facilities provided at the option of an owner, or may include the costs thereof in the Association's budget as a Common Expense and assess it as part of the Base Assessment if provided to all units. By way of example, such services and facilities might include landscape maintenance, pest control service, cable television service, security, caretaker, transportation, fire protection, utilities and similar services and facilities.

Nothing in this Section shall be construed as a representation by Declarant or the Association as to what, if any, services shall be provided. In addition, the Board shall be permitted to modify or cancel exisiting contracts for services in its discretion, unless the provision of such services is otherwise required by the Governing documents. Non-use of services provided to all owners or units as a Common Expense shall not exempt any owner from the obligation to pay assessments for such services.

"recommending initiation of" is not the same as "passed a motion to accept a contract for"

Sounds like they (the board) is testing the waters.

What do the other residents think? It SHOULD be much cheaper than what you are paying now.

I'd prefer one trash hauler in our sub. We have 4 different companies on our roads throughout the week.

Bart,

HOAs are considered to be private entities mainly because they are a corp.

It appears that your board has the authority to enter into a contract for trash pickup. If this does happen you will be obligated to pay the highr assessment to pay for this service. Being a member of an HOA obligates you to certain things, the main thing being the payment of assessments.

Since the announcement from the board states they have "recommended" initiating this service may mean they have not made a definite decision. If that is the case then it may not be too late for you to voice your objection.

Glenda

I am not nor do I play a lawyer. If the streets are public I do not see how thee BOD can stop anyone from using them.

Might I suggest your forward this information on to your trash company. Maybe they will fight this battle.

Bart

What you posted seems to allow the BOD to do so. I think they might be waiting for push back as it says they are recommending, not implementing. Let the push back begin.

Typical Covenants/Bylaws allow the BOD to increase dues by only a specific amount per year without homeowner approval. Our BOD limit is 5% per year without owner approval. This is one angle to explore.

In Lexington SC our weekly trash pickup is $47.85 per quarter or $191.40 per year. Even if our HOA could wheel and deal I doubt they could get it below say $125.00 per year. As our dues are $600.00 per year, the most they could increase our dues to do so (without owner approval) would be $30.00 per year. Bottom line is based on this alone, our BOD could not implement such.

Hope this helps.

Our Association has a contract for garbage collection. I do not believe that such a service could be provided as "optional" for owners (and what a headache it would be for the provider if they had to keep a list of who had the garbage collection and who did not AND for the Association as far as collecting the additional fees).

I agree with the other post about the impact of the new fees, any increase that the Association is allowed to do, etc. This would fall under cost/benefit analysis. I also have to wonder if the Association would need new restrictions or tweak existing restrictions regarding trash cans.

Personally, if I had to drive my trash to a county collection facility, I would not be a happy camper. Having a regular garbage collection service on regularly scheduled days makes my life much easier. But to each his own

This is an old, resurrected post from 2010.

This is just another variation on the old why-should-I-pay-school-taxes-if-I-have-no-kids argument.

My association's primary purpose is to maintain 300 miles of dirt roads and we each pay an assessment based on the number of acres we own. We have those who argue that they should pay less because they only visit a few times per year. Others argue for a lower fee because their property is closer to the public roads. One argued that he should not pay at all because he travels by bicycle.

I pay for my chosen trash service in addition to HOA dues that include trash service by another company. Yes, double pay but I'm not asking for a refund from the HOA. From the trash service company I am paying directly I get better waste, recycling and yard waste carts. The trash truck drivers do a better job of keeping all the trash in the trucks and picking up if something spills. They also are more careful when dumping so the carts are not damaged. We can have high wind days that blow the carts over so the company I am paying provided cords to use to keep the lids down. I think it's my money and I should be able to pay for the service I want if I'm not asking the HOA for anything. Plus....it's a city street!

Glenda, I would write the Board a polite letter or if you can afford it have an attorney write it asking where they get the legal authority to ban your provider from a city street. The only argument I could possibly see would be if the "official trash day" is say a Tuesday and there is something in your CC&R's that trashcans can only be placed on the curb from Monday night at 6pm until Tuesday at 6pm or they can fine you. This could come into play if your provider only picked up on say Thursday.