The good news is that the Rental Registration Fee has been reduced from $500 to $350.  The bad news is that the Board did not rescind the fee increase and return us to $100.  An email will be sent out to all homeowners  with the boards explanation for the fee increase and a statement that the HOA will not provide any additional supporting data for its decision.

This raises some Questions:

• If the Board decided it needed $500  and reduced the fee to $350, where is the budget shortfall coming from?
  
  
• If we question the validity of a board decision and request supporting data for a decision,  are we now going to be told that it requires too much time and effort by the HOA or there are privacy issues or our lawyers won't let us release the data?
  
  
• Does the HOA work for the Homeowners or for the Board?  

The blog would like to hear your thoughts.

​

The following items are on the agenda for the next board meeting on August 27th at 1:30 PDT


I. Proposal To Reduce 2021-2022 Rental Application Fee 
       1. Revised Rental Application Fee 2021 2022.docx.pdf

J. Rental Fee Increase & Transponder Fee Increase
       1. Resolution Re Fee lncreases.docx.pdf
        2. Emails to Homeowners re Fee lncreases.docx.pdf

To date,  the HOA has not released any data supporting both the 400% Rental Fee increase or the 100% transponder Fee increase.

The HOA states that there was "study's"  done to support both  Fee increases.  All attempts to get any information from the HOA is met with responses of  nothing can be released do to "privacy"  or our lawyers told us that we do not have to release any data,

So where are we today?  

• Will the Board reverse/reduce the increase in fees  or will they hold fast to the increases in fees?
• Will the Homeowners see  the supporting data to justify the increases or be told again that they are not required to justify the increases?
• Will the Board listen to the homeowners and respect their opinions or just dismiss us?

If you are interested in this issue and/or you want to understand how seriously the board feels about representing the homeowners, attend the board meeting. 

If you wish to comment on this post click on the button below 

Here is the Zoom and dial in information if you cannot be there in person.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89410903784?pwd=bUQ4aXJiQVphM1U4eVlSZ2xVQXkzZz09  

Meeting ID: 894 1090 3784
Passcode: 378904



Dial by your location
1 408 638 0968 US 
1 669 900 6833 US 
1 253 215 8782 US 
1 346 248 7799 US 
1 312 626 6799 US 
1 646 876 9923 US 
1 301 715 8592 US 
1 647 558 0588 Canada
1 778 907 2071 Canada
1 204 272 7920 Canada
1 438 809 7799 Canada
1 587 328 1099 Canada
1 647 374 4685 Canada


  

Board Member Terri Swartz, the head of the STVR ad hoc committee was unaware
that the rental fee was going up.   Who is making  the decisions and based on what facts?

The BOD considering other options on the 400% rental increase?  Will it return back to $100?
How will the board justify the decrease?

It is on the Agenda at this Friday’s board meeting August 27th at 1:30 PST

What are your thoughts?  Are you planning to attend the board meeting and see how it all plays out.


Here is the Zoom and dial in information if you cannot be there in person.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89410903784?pwd=bUQ4aXJiQVphM1U4eVlSZ2xVQXkzZz09  

Meeting ID: 894 1090 3784
Passcode: 378904



Dial by your location
1 408 638 0968 US 
1 669 900 6833 US 
1 253 215 8782 US 
1 346 248 7799 US 
1 312 626 6799 US 
1 646 876 9923 US 
1 301 715 8592 US 
1 647 558 0588 Canada
1 778 907 2071 Canada
1 204 272 7920 Canada
1 438 809 7799 Canada
1 587 328 1099 Canada
1 647 374 4685 Canada

THIS  IS YOUR CHANCE TO BE HEARD   ... 

This is your opportunity to converse directly in a two way conversation with your current board members.  Present will be Terri Swartz who spearheaded the policies and rules for rentals and two new board members, Bob Mangold and Toshie Sweeney .

Yo have two options in which to have your voices heard:

•  Questions can be emailed in advance before Friday to [email protected] and will be read and answered at the Chat.
  
  
• You can also attend through ZOOM and raise your hand to chat directly with your board members.  If you do not have a device or computer that supports zoom,  you can dial in and listen to the chat.   The information listed below can be used to connect to the CHAT.

 
Zoom Meeting link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81284786776?pwd=ZjZSSFJ3Nit0cGJ0enZROU8xMDN4UT09

Meeting ID: 812 8478 6776  Passcode: 222487


Dial by your location
1 408 638 0968 US
1 669 900 6833 US
1 253 215 8782 US
1 346 248 7799 US
1 253 215 8782 US
1 346 248 7799 US
1 646 876 9923 US
1 301 715 8592 US
1 312 626 6799 US
1 587 328 1099 Canada
1 647 374 4685 Canada
1 647 558 0588 Canada
1 778 907 2071 Canada
1 204 272 7920 Canada
1 438 809 7799 Canada

Terri Swartz just sent all the homeowners on behalf of the Board of directors a DESERT PRINCESS RENTALS - BULLETIN explaining why the HOA needs the have new rules, policies, fines and enforcement. It was summed up by a statement that all homeowners can agree with:

"To maintain a harmonious community, we must respect homeowners with divergent needs and interest.
Ultimately, we want to balance the desires of some homeowners to rent their homes, while
we preserve the rights for all homeowners to the quiet, peaceful enjoyment of their property."

What is missing from this bulletin, are any facts about the performance of the HOA's management of rentals in the past year. We know how the BOD wants to spend our money and how much they expect to receive. We do not have any facts that document the extent of our problems and how last years funds have reduced "disruptive rentals" at Desert Princess.

Since the board and HOA are not providing facts, the Blog would like to hear from homeowners on whether they have experienced an increase and/or decrease in problem rentals and do you believe that these changes are tied to HOA's management of rentals?

The Board has been operating on the principle that they only tell the homeowners what is needed?  This years set of "needs" are:  more money to fix pools, more money for short term and long term rental issues , more money to put transponders on vehicles and more money for the golf operations.

The narrative of the Board and the HOA has to change.  Homeowners want to feel confident that the current budget increases are rooted in facts and based on the following business principals:
   

1. Collecting and analyzing data from current operations (collecting and tracking data).
   
   
2. Reporting on measurable benefits that were produced with current expenditures (tracking degree of success/failures, efficiencies gained, etc.)
   
   
3. Establishing goals( increase efficiency,  reduce costs,  additional benefits)
   ​​
4. Transparency when the homeowners request confirmation that principals 1-3  were considered (meeting stakeholders needs).

The blog would like to hear from the homeowners on their interactions with the HOA and Board and if they believe that the narrative needs to change too.

The Rental assessment fees starting October 1st,2020 was $100. On October 1, 2021 it will rise to $500.

Below is the HOA Board's explanation along with questions to the homeowners:

• The HOA Board states "This is approximately $42/month/rental unit to help in providing the peace and enjoyment all homeowners expect in DPPS."
  
  Has the Compliance Officer position increased the "Peace and enjoyment" at Desert Princess in the past year?
  
  
• The HOA Board states "These homeowners are operating a business within DPPS, and non-rental homeowners should not have to cover these increased expenses".
  
  How many rental homeowners are "businesses"? Do you rent your home to cover HOA and other expenses Have you bought your property as part of your retirement? Is your rental generating a large profit?
  
  
• In reference to the Rental Registration Fee, the HOA Board states "The principle here is that the rental units should stand the cost of providing the services within DPPS". The budgeted cost is now $127,500. No actual cost breakdowns for the first year has been provided for administrating and enforcing the rental regulations.
  
  Do you believe that these costs are excessive?

The Blog would like to get the homeowners impressions of the explanation for the rental assessment going from $100 to $500.

There were over 100 homeowners attending the monthly HOA board meeting either in the lounge or by Zoom.  Over 30 texts and letters were sent to the HOA.  Only one was read and it had nothing to do with the budget.

Peter Webb , our HOA President made it clear that homeowners do not have a right to see the complete proposed budget prior to approval.  Please note: The complete budget is not sent to the Homeowners.  We receive a summary of the budget and the changes that directly affect dues, assessments and other fees.

During the meeting,  there was no mention of continuing any of the pandemic driven cost cutting measures implemented during the last year and Peter Webb made it clear that dues will continue to rise to meet any increases in expenses in the future.  We are focused on covering expenses not cost containment.

The budget was approved with all the increases intact and a slight increase in the golf memberships.  No explanation was given for why this increase was needed.  Bill Bergstrom was the only  Board member that voted no on the budget.

A summary of the budget will be sent out.  Hopefully it will explain where the new monthly dues of $710 will be applied.   We know that $500 is being assessed to over 300  homeowners for short and long term rentals ($150,000).  These funds are earmarked to hire a new Compliance Officer,  add a new weekend employee to patrol services and add a new vehicle to be used by patrol services.

The new $50 transponder fee was needed to cover the cost of applying the transponder and recording the transponder and activation for the transponder.

The complete board meeting was recorded and should be available if you want to understand how the board operates and get additional details on the processes and logic behind the increases in dues,  contact the HOA at:
    
    [email protected]

​and request a copy or link to the recorded budget meeting.