Fellow homeowners,
Those of you who know me personally know how conservative I am with the HOA money and how much I oppose monthly dues increases. I've spent years on the board cutting waste, implementing innovative cost-effective solutions, and demanding the highest return on our money to keep the dues low.
However, this year our monthly water bill has been running $400 above budget. Projecting this expense into 2019 resulted in a monthly dues increase to $137. There are 2 main reasons:
1) Failing irrigation infrastructure
Our sprinkler system is past the end of its useful life. We've had a record number of water-related emergencies (stuck valves, leaks, broken sprinklers, etc.) that resulted in significant water loss. Some water leaks went unnoticed/unreported for days.
2) Dry year
2018 was unusually dry. Combined with the new grass we replanted that required extra watering to establish, we've been running our weekly watering at a maximum for most of the year, whereas in rainy years half of our irrigation is turned off November - March while the other half is on minimal watering.
Pro-active solutions - replacing valves and sprinklers - is expensive and will result in a special assessment, which I'd like to avoid. Besides, most old hardware might continue to work for years, making a wholesale upgrade costly and unnecessary.
Gradually switching to more drought resistant plants seems to be a more viable option but it takes time as our landscaping budget is limited.
Please be assured that while on the board I will continue to search for cost-effective solutions within our current budget to avoid unnecessary dues increases.
Slav
