News from the South Area (June)

First, a bit of housekeeping:  In the South district (between 466A and 44) I could use a few volunteers to help with some regular but simple tasks.  One would be checking The VHA mail drop boxes at a few neighborhood postal stations and delivering anything deposited there to its proper location.
While most deposits are intended for The VHA, sometimes people put their utility payments and other communiques in there by accident and it needs to be redirected to the correct recipient.  Another area that we could use volunteers for is people who would be willing to help at meetings and community events periodically.  If you are interested in getting more involved in the community but don’t want to jump in with both feet, try dipping a toe in the water and contact me.

As some of you know, I am on the CDD 9 Board of Supervisors. We are entering the budget season and I would like to keep you informed on what is happening with the annual budget and the resultant maintenance assessments.  CDD 9 (roughly the area below 466A and above Hillsborough, plus a few non-connected areas like Mission Hills) is projecting a drop in the annual billings for assessment fees & bond payments that are on the annual tax bill.

There are two reasons for this:  The first is that the district refinanced one of its large bond packages at a lower interest rate.  The result is a savings of slightly over $1 million dollars that needs to be raised in assessments on your tax bill.  Obviously, if you have paid off your bond this does not impact you as you do not have a bond assessment.

The second reason is that since December of 2020 we have been discussing our level of reserves and the level of working capital.  I campaigned for office on these topics and am glad that the board agrees with certain budget changes.  The outcome of this is that the maintenance assessments, as of the initial budget so far, `is set to be lowered by 20%.

Why are we still working on getting balances to the best levels?  When a CDD initially starts, the board is made up of members appointed by the property owner, which on Day One is the developer.  As houses are sold and the property owners are residents, not the developer, the board becomes populated by residents and time starts telling you what the operating costs are versus just estimates. CDD 9 is now about five years old and we are getting a better handle on the economic realities of the district.

Mike Dollard