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April 28, 2006
Why do all the new developments have an association?
In every discussion site and very often in the media, I see people saying that they can't find a new home that isn't in an association. They can't understand why the market doesn't respond to their wishes. There's an easy answer, but not an easy fix. It would probably mean that your property taxes would go up.
In the late '80's and early '90's, a movement started to cap or reduce property taxes. Local governments, which relied heavily on property taxes for a major part of their revenue found themselves having to cut costs to get by. In the meantime developers were finding that prime land was becoming encumbered by density restriction and new legislation regarding wetlands and brownfields. In other words, they might find a 5 acre piece of property, but under zoning they could only put 1 home per half acre and 2 of the acres could be wetlands. So instead of 10 homes, they could only build 6. So they tried to to get a variance to build to a greater density on the remaining 3 acres. And they would offer (or be required to) create an association to govern the common property (wetlands) and to take on some of the servies normally provided by the local government.
The upside for the developer, greater density = greater profit. The upside for the local government, more taxpayers, but fewer services, therefore, a net income that could be used to offset rising costs, or to prevent the reduction of services to other taxpayers (voters). A win-win for both parties. As long as local governments can't raise taxes to the levels they need in order to provide similar services to all resident, you will see nothing but associations being built.
So its a relatively easy choice, let your legislator know whether you'd prefer more association or more taxes.
Posted by joewest at 12:54 PM
April 10, 2006
A Very Good Manager
Last Friday, the local Chapter of CAI held its annual conference and trade show. It was a tremendous success! I want to applaud the efforts put into it by the board, the volunteers, the speakers, vendors, the keynote speaker - Julie Adamen, and the attendees, who really got into the spirit of the event. But the person who pulls it all together is Kathy, the chapter Executive Director. That's not her only job. After 18 years as a manager, she struck out on her own this past year, starting a company that has grown rapidly, concentrating on small to medium size condominiums. As if that wasn't enough, she decided to go for her PCAM (CAI's highest management designation) in January.
She called frequently while working on her PCAM, worried, as she does, that her effort wouldn't be enough, or that she might miss something. I tried to tell her that she was certain to pass, that I knew the person who was grading the work and that I was sure he would recognize the skills she possesses. But she continued to worry as she does about each of the many different projects she is involved with.
I knew she was going to do fine, because Kathy is one of the few "natural" managers I've ever met. She knows what to do, how to do it, how to build a consensus, where the association needs to go and how to help it get there. She combines knowledge, skill and empathy, and makes it look easy, even when she's actually working around the clock. The only thing she lacks is the awareness of how good she really is.
Just before the conference, Kathy found out she had passed and would get her PCAM. From us, congratulations to a very good manager, and a very good friend.
Posted by joewest at 4:47 PM