MY DESERT PRINCESS BLOG

3/14/2024 23 Comments

HOA 2024 Strategic Plan and Projects

The HOA Board will be holding an open meeting to discuss “Ongoing & 2024 Strategic Plans/Projects” on Wednesday, March 20th.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO HOMEOWNERS?

This meeting is the first step for this year’s Board to determine how funds, not earmarked in the current budget, will be spent during 2024.
The Board members will be establishing a set of priorities for spending our homeowner dues.
This will be an opportunity to see if the Board’s priorities are in alignment with homeowner wants and needs.

Will the Strategic Plans/Projects generate additional revenue or save money?

The Blog would like to hear how Homeowners would like to see their money spent.

FOR EXAMPLE:

Should we focus on infrastructure, like roads, lights, walls and curbs?
Are revenue generating projects more important than projects that update the infrastructure?
Are there projects to consider that will generate savings?

Are there projects to consider that will generate revenues?
Should we gather all the cost information before we start spending money on potential projects?
Are there any management and operational changes that can be made to increase efficiencies and reduce costs?

The Blog Welcomes Your Comments.

23 Comments

2/17/2024 22 Comments

Do all Homeowners have the same opportunity to serve on HOA committees?

The HOA is now accepting applications for committee positions. The three committees that have the greatest financial impact are, the Financial Advisory Committee (FAC), Architecture Committee (AC) and the Golf Operations Committee (GOC).

A number of committee members get “Rubber Stamped” each year for their current committee. Those members are listed below:

FAC- Raymond Cej – 5 years+
FAC- Harold Cipin – 4 years+
FAC- Christopher Hebb – 6 years+

AC – Don Milligan- 3 years
AC- Lynn Cipin- 6 years+

GOC- Fred Elliott- 6 years+
GOC- Bill Bender- 3 years
GOC- Ron Fairburn- 6 years+
GOC- John Wong- 3 years

The following questions arise:

What is the actual process of selecting committee members?
What criteria is being used to determine the qualifications for each committee?
Do all the board members see the each application and work on committee selection?
Are existing committee members given preference over new committee applicants?
Are qualified applicants being passed over?
Do our committees represent the diversity of all homeowners?

The Blog welcomes your comments

22 Comments

2/1/2024 18 Comments

The Ballot Amendment

By now all homeowners should have received your annual ballot in the mail. Homeowners are being asked by the HOA Board to vote in favor of an amendment to allow the Board to enter into contracts up to 5 years under “certain conditions” (currently contracts are limited to 1 year).

How can homeowners vote for this amendment without knowing the following:

What are the “certain conditions” that will allow the HOA board to enter into multi-year contracts?
Does the “certain conditions” include obtaining 3 bids (required by our bylaws )?
Will current “no-bid” contracts (Management Trust and O’Connell) become multi-year contracts?

Should the Board remove the amendment from the Election Packet until there is a better understanding of this proposal?

The Blog would like to know your thoughts.

18 Comments

1/23/2024 6 Comments

ELECTION BALLOTS ARE IN YOUR MAILBOX

All homeowners will be receiving their HOA Board ballots in their mailbox. Included in the ballot are the candidates' statements.

The candidates were not given the opportunity in their statements to identify the challenges facing our HOA and how they are qualified to address these challenges for our future.

The meet your candidate forum has past. Were you satisfied with the questions presented and the candidates answers?

Are there other challenges facing our community that need to be addressed?

Here are some examples:

Reducing/eliminating costs to minimize increases in dues.
Finding additional sources of revenue.
Improving the channels of communication between homeowners and the HOA board.
Increasing homeowner involvement in the community.
Managing the reserves to meet maintenance and future replacement needs.
Reaching out and involving homeowners with their skills and knowledge.

The Blog welcomes your comments on the listed challenges above. What other challenges are important to you?

6 Comments

1/16/2024 28 Comments

THE 2024 BOARD ELECTION

There will be two new board members that will be elected to the upcoming HOA Board (5 candidates are campaigning for these two slots).

For those that were unable to attend the Candidate Forum this last Saturday (January 13th), a link is posted below for viewing. This is an opportunity for everyone to see the candidates in action and help all of us make an informed decision.

Candidate Forum Video

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Last year homeowners experienced the largest increase in dues in the history of the Desert Princess Country Club. Do you want the next annual increase to be repeated?

As owners, we have an opportunity to select the best two individuals that can help the HOA make changes to minimize and/or reduce our dues.
The new board members we select, will have a hand in shaping our future for the next three years.
There is a short window for all of us to vote. The ballots will be sent out this week and will be counted on Saturday, February 24th.

EXAMPLES OF WHAT OWNERS CAN DO

Contact the candidates by email, phone or visit in person.
Take time to learn and understand their qualifications.
Ask the candidates what they believe are the most important issues facing our HOA and how they plan to address these issues.

The Blog would also like to start a dialog within the community. Please feel free to make your thoughts known.

28 Comments

12/4/2023 12 Comments

ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION

The HOA Board will be reviewing and may approve the REVISED MAINTENACE MATRIX at the HOA meeting this Friday, December 8th at 1:30 PM. All homeowners should attend in person at the Master's Lounge or on Zoom.

The REVISED MAINTENANCE MATRIX will replace the existing Maintenance Matrix that has been in place since 2008. It is important for homeowners understand the potential financial impact of these changes.

This may be the last opportunity for homeowners to comment on the proposed REVISED MAINTENANCE MATRIX and get questions answered, such as:

Why did the REVISED MAINTENANCE MATRIX grow from 2 pages to 8 pages?
What changes to the current Maintenance Matrix were needed?
Were there problems in the current Maintenance Matrix that required the Board's Governance Committee to create a complete replacement document?
Why did the Board ask the homeowners to review and comment on the proposed REVISED MAINTENANCE MATRIX without including a summary detailing the changes?
If the REVISED MAINTENANCE MATRIX is approved, will the HOA still be responsible for all external walls and structures up to the drywall in villas(i.e. will villa homeowners need additional insurance coverage)?
What will be the financial impact to homeowners and our future dues if the REVISED MAINTENANCE MATRIX is approved by the Board?
Should the board setup a Town Hall meeting to discuss the proposed replacement of the current Maintenance Matrix?

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD

Zoom Login information

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86510954069?pwd=NDhLZXZoOGpvdEZzYXJlU3VOR0M0QT09

Meeting ID: 865 1095 4069
Passcode: 857892

Dial by your location:
  1 669 444 9171 US
  1 669 900 6833 US
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1 719 359 4580 US
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1 346 248 7799 US
1 689 278 1000 US
1 301 715 8592 US
1 305 224 1968 US
1 309 205 3325 US
1 312 626 6799 US
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1 780 666 0144 Canada
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1 778 907 2071 Canada

12 Comments

11/26/2023 44 Comments

Passing Costs Back to the Homeowner - The Proposed Revised Maintenance Matrix

44 Comments

10/9/2023 99 Comments

Proposed Changes to Desert Princess Parking rules

Board member Terry Swartz has proposed revisions to the current parking regulations here at Desert Princess Country Club.

These changes are summarized below:

Every household will be issued 1 hangtag (1206 households)

Homeowners can only park in their garage(condo,villa) , driveway(villa) or on the street without a hang tag.
All condo owners will be required to display a hang tag to park near their property.
Any homeowner parking in a “hang tag” space without displaying a hang tag will result in their vehicle being towed immediately and fined by the HOA.

Any guest, renter or vendor who parks in a space requiring a hang tag will be immediately towed and the associated homeowner will be fined.

This raises the following questions:

How are guests, renters and vendors going to identify where they are allowed to park?

Is it legal for the HOA to immediately tow vehicles without identifying which spaces are public and private(hang tag) parking spaces?

Does this new parking policy discriminate against owners who do short term, long term or seasonal rentals of their properties (approximately 400 homeowners)?
Should homeowners be fined when guests, renters or vendors park in "private" designated spaces?

Will this new parking policy increase the availability of homeowner parking spaces (especially in the condo areas)?

What will be the additional cost ($$$) needed to enforce these new parking rules? How will it be paid for?

The Blog would like to know your thoughts

99 Comments

7/30/2023 49 Comments

The Board has Approved the 2023/2024 Budget

The HOA Board has just approved monthly dues for the 2023/2024. The dues will be increased from $748 per month to $855 per month.

There is still additional work that can be done by the HOA Board and Management Trust to find additional opportunities to reduce expenses and increase revenues.

Examples of opportunities:

Establish a savings target (1%,3% 5%) for the HOA.
Solicit ideas from the community and implement them.
Seek out and work with homeowners who have experience in specific areas (landscape, finance, law, business, IT, management, etc.).
Identify changes that can reduce labor(more automation, streamlining processes, less redundancy, etc.) and implement them.
Select strategic and discretionary projects that will return funds to homeowners by reducing/eliminating expenses and implement them.
Identify and implement additional revenue sources.
Start early and get the required 3 competitive bids on all contracts for the future fiscal years.
Think outside the box. Just because we have always done things one way does not mean there is not a better way.
Establish performance goals with financial incentives and penalties for future fiscal year contracts.
Create goal based incentives for employees.
Apply any additional savings to next year’s budget to reduce increases in the monthly dues.

The Blog would like to know your thoughts.

49 Comments

7/16/2023 93 Comments

HOA DUES are increasing to $877.11 starting October 1, 2023

The HOA Board presented the latest version of the 2023/2024 budget summary on July 14th. Homeowners were not allowed to comment on this budget presentation.

As the budget stands now, HOA monthly dues will be increased to $877.11 per month. An increase of $129.11 per month. Our dues have increase in the last 5 years over 43%.

The Board will be approving the final budget at the Board meeting on Friday, July 28th at 1:30pm. Homeowners will not be able to see any details of how the board plans to spend our money until after the budget is published and mailed to the homeowners in late August.

HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:

Over 45% of our monthly dues will go to pay for salaries, taxes, benefits and grounds. The Board does not plan to put Management Trust , O’Connell(landscaping) or legal services out for competitive contract bids.
The Board’s budget includes increases in additional staff, pay increases and corrections for previous budgeting errors.
A board member proposed a $200,000 reduction in the budget (reducing dues by $13.81/month). That proposal was voted down 4 to 3.

The Country Club budget was not included in the presentation.
The Board presentation excluded any reference to increases in golf membership fees and/or dues.

The blog would love to know your thoughts.

93 Comments

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Charter

This blog is designed as a means to provide transparency and informative access to the policies and protocols of the Desert Princess Palm Springs Homeowners Association, the governance of the HOA Board of Directors and the management of the community’s assets by The Management Trust. The expressed intent is to establish a neighborhood hub for trusted connections and the exchange of helpful information, goods, and services; it is hoped that homeowners will use it to build a stronger and safer Desert Princess Palm Springs.

This Blog will not publish any comments that are personal attacks or unrelated to the published post.

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