To assess or not

O.k I have been voted onto the board. Our last members decided not to vote on this and leave it for the new members. We are a 15 building condo community. Each building has 15 units. We need to replace 4 roofs now. 3 in 5 years, and the remaining 8 in 10 years at a cost of 30,000 per building. We have 330,000 in our reserves. Do we assess the buildings as we replace, or do we use our reserves and start budgeting for the future replacements? We will also have concrete work to be done and maintenance to all the buildings, but not on the scale of 30,000. I am stressing about how to go about this. How do I go about softening the blow?

Rhonda

Are the reserves for roofs alone and if not, for what other reasons (pools, tennis courts, etc.)?

How long did it take to acquire the $330K?

I honestly don't know what the reserves are for. They have never said. We do have a pool. It is small because this was meant for a retirement community and they figured they wouldn't need a big pool. The reserves were at 111,369 in 2006. So to me, that is slow improvement. I have only been here 3 years. I was elected 2 days ago and we are unsealing the bids for the roofs on Sept. 3rd. I am taking the crash course in HOA's Unfortunately this is basically a new board. I have been coming to this site and reading everything I can. I have been going over the budget and seeing where improvements can be made. I'm just confused about what to do here. If we use the reserves, then everyone will expect the same when it is time for their roofs. But if I assess or raise our monthly fees, people will be upset. I just want to do what is best for everyone.

As a member of the Board, you should be doing what is best for the Association.
By doing what is best for the Association, you will be doing what is best for everyone.

If you haven't had a reserve study done, have one done (cost typically around $3,000 - ours was $2,200 this year). It doesn't have to be done now but should be planned to be done in the next year or two.

The reserve study will identify how much needs to be set aside over the next x years (typically 10-20). If assessments need to be increased to meet the amount established by the study, then the other thread about reserve studies will help you to explain that to the members. We needed a 20% increase and that was supported by the members once things were explained to them.

Nobody likes assessments to be increased. However, if the Reserves are not funded, then either the annual assessments need increased or the membership should plan for special assessments to pay for things like roofs.