Common area water

Hi: We are a 74 unit townhome community in which each unit is submetered for personal water & sewer usage. What some residents have noticed is an extra $3.00 per month charge for common area water that has been added to each of our bills. The water billing company claims the Association requested this to be added. Trouble is, the Association never notified the residents of this or the reason for it. I have yet to find a board vote in the Assn. meeting minutes regarding this either. The only thing they mention is changing water billing companies. That is when this extra charge appeared. Traditionally, the common area water has been paid out of the Assn. operating fund. I have asked both the Board Pres. and the property manager and I get a one line vague answer that never makes sense, like they changed the billing or it's an admin. fee. The billing company already adds on a $3.50 admin fee to our bills. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get to the bottom of this? Thank you.

Richard, thank you for your reply. You confirmed what I was thinking. When I first contacted the property manager, this is the one liner I got:

"That is for us having a billing company……they do the administrative. Irrigation meters…."

Like I said, we are already being charged $3.50 admin fee per bill from the water billing company. I have contacted their office again to elaborate on this. The billing company said it was added on at the Association's request. So the manager is either mixed up or something not right is taking place.

I bet you saved quite a bit by doing your billing in house. That was smart. You're lucky to have a capable HOA.

Thanks again.

It may be in the contract with the billing company

Ina next time you talk to them ask if the assessments are going to be lowered $3.00 per month since the homeowners are now paying the common area water charges directly.

Tina

I would suspect the association told them to add the $3.00 for an increase in either rates or usage for the common area. For accounting purposes, this should increase should have been passed through as an increase in assessment not an increase in individual homeowner expense. The same amount of money collected, but IMO, the wrong way.

The property doesn't really have that much grass and being that it's Georgia, the sprinklers don't even run all year. I would have thought our individual water bills would have also gone up, but I don't see an increase. Why they chose not to tell residents there was an increase is beyond me. Still waiting on the PM to get back with me. This property from the beginning has never been managed correctly. When the builder turned it over to the residents, the management company that took over was owned by the builder. Plus, one of the builders was a signer on the Assn. bank account after it was turned over, along with the PM, and none of the board members were signers. Stupidity has been king here and I thought it would improve with a new mgmt. company, but they are slow to respond and when they do it's these deliberately confusing one liners.