(Feb. 4, 2016) Delayed a week by winter storms, OPA General Manager Bob Thompson’s town hall session on the proposed 2017 fiscal-year budget took place Saturday morning.
Thompson started with an overview of the budget process, which began in September with the various department heads, and most recently involved several public meetings with the board of directors, including a session two days before the presentation.
As it stands, the basic annual assessment in the draft is $941, $20 higher than the previous year. Thompson said the assessment was originally a $67 increase, and that the number could change again – up or down – before the board votes to finalize the budget on Feb. 25.
Although Thompson said the mandatory minimum wage increase only had a small effect on the budget, the advent of the Affordable Care act did provide some challenges.
Employees working more than 1,560 annual hours are required by law to have health care, and in Ocean Pines that meant restricting certain workers to 30 hours or less – even during the busy summer season.
Major capital items in the proposed budget include new Beach Club bathrooms, country club and police department “rehab/replacement,” road resurfacing, bridge repairs, and upgrades to the computer systems, phones and the sports core pool and deck.
Improvements and a new staffer specializing in information technology were also in the budget, although Thompson said the specifics were still being refined.
Thompson said the budget was crafted with the notion that Ocean Pines was closer to a municipality that it was to many other homeowner’s associations, and compared paying the assessment to paying taxes in Ocean City, Berlin, Snow Hill, and other nearby towns.
In Ocean Pines, he said, the annual assessment pays for administrative costs, public works and emergency services, along with major amenities like the yacht club, beach club, marina, golf and aquatics, and recreation and parks and racquet sports. It also pays for all activities the association offers, including July 4 fireworks and the movies and concerts in the park series.
“We’re not like a condo with one building. We’re closer to a municipality than anything if you look at our makeup,” he said. “We’re paying for a lot of things … to give a lot of enjoyment for our members here.
“We’re still the cheapest community to live in,” Thompson continued. “We’re still cheaper than any other municipality. And think of everything that’d included in that assessment. It’s pretty special.”
He also defended the vision statement of the association, which calls Ocean Pines “a premier resort community.” Some, he said, did not approve of the word “premier.”
“My family has been here for over 25 years. I don’t believe we’re an average community,” Thompson said.
The board will next meet to discuss the budget on Feb. 5.
Thompson started with an overview of the budget process, which began in September with the various department heads, and most recently involved several public meetings with the board of directors, including a session two days before the presentation.
As it stands, the basic annual assessment in the draft is $941, $20 higher than the previous year. Thompson said the assessment was originally a $67 increase, and that the number could change again – up or down – before the board votes to finalize the budget on Feb. 25.
Although Thompson said the mandatory minimum wage increase only had a small effect on the budget, the advent of the Affordable Care act did provide some challenges.
Employees working more than 1,560 annual hours are required by law to have health care, and in Ocean Pines that meant restricting certain workers to 30 hours or less – even during the busy summer season.
Major capital items in the proposed budget include new Beach Club bathrooms, country club and police department “rehab/replacement,” road resurfacing, bridge repairs, and upgrades to the computer systems, phones and the sports core pool and deck.
Improvements and a new staffer specializing in information technology were also in the budget, although Thompson said the specifics were still being refined.
Thompson said the budget was crafted with the notion that Ocean Pines was closer to a municipality that it was to many other homeowner’s associations, and compared paying the assessment to paying taxes in Ocean City, Berlin, Snow Hill, and other nearby towns.
In Ocean Pines, he said, the annual assessment pays for administrative costs, public works and emergency services, along with major amenities like the yacht club, beach club, marina, golf and aquatics, and recreation and parks and racquet sports. It also pays for all activities the association offers, including July 4 fireworks and the movies and concerts in the park series.
“We’re not like a condo with one building. We’re closer to a municipality than anything if you look at our makeup,” he said. “We’re paying for a lot of things … to give a lot of enjoyment for our members here.
“We’re still the cheapest community to live in,” Thompson continued. “We’re still cheaper than any other municipality. And think of everything that’d included in that assessment. It’s pretty special.”
He also defended the vision statement of the association, which calls Ocean Pines “a premier resort community.” Some, he said, did not approve of the word “premier.”
“My family has been here for over 25 years. I don’t believe we’re an average community,” Thompson said.
The board will next meet to discuss the budget on Feb. 5.