repairs and landscape irrigation changes above budget

Re-visit your budget. Scrimp and save and move any unspent budgeted monies over to this category. Hopefully, it is only your board that needs to approve the new plan (budget) without having to go thru a membership vote.

Thanks for the suggestions. I believe that we have looked at fence repair allotments and a couple of other areas, but still seem to be falling short. We should have estimated operating cost, where repairs and replacement in the irrigation system were quite obvious to home owners, but apparently not the management company nor the board. I now am on the board of directors and questioned why the operating budget had not changed since two years previous. The management said, that they had taken the two years previous to make the budget. Not to bright as I see it, and now we have problems.
We have already from other circumstances raised dues twice and added an extra assessment to cover insurance that was neglected to be figured in with a large increase in coverage and rates. We do not have to put any more burden on the homeowners. Many have become unemployed, like everywhere else.
Thanks for trying to help.
Joyce B3

If you need to do an overhaul of the irrigation system to include modification and replacement that can be considered a reserve expense. if you are only doing random head changes and moving heads a few feet this way or that way you could not consider that reserves. Look at your overall need on the irrigation system before you automatically make the jump that it all must be opertaing expense. the irrigation system is a capital component although frequently not regularly includd in a reserve study unless asked for, but if you look at what it woudl cost to replace the system it is tremendous and should be included especially in an aged community.