Some fees will rise, capital reserve fund to receive $167,000

By Greg Ellison

(Feb. 20,2020) The Ocean Pines Association Board approved the fiscal 2020/2021 budget by a 6-1 vote Monday, with director Steve Tuttle abstaining because of his concerns with earmarking funds for the new capital reserve fund.

Although avoiding increased assessments for non-waterfront properties, the budget will raise fees for waterfront lots by $50 to $1,451.

The OPA Board of Directors approved the associations’ operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year that begins on May 1, despite Tuttle’s apprehension over what he considered were vague financial commitments.

The new capital reserve fund is budgeted to receive $167,000 in operating fund transfers in the new fiscal year. Of that, $67,000 will be used to cover projects, leaving a balance of $100,000 as of April 30, 2021.

“We’ve approved for $67,000, not $167,000,” he said. “We’ve talked about [putting] that $100,000 into the new capital fund, but we haven’t talked about what it’s for.”

Board member Dr. Colette Horn said a plan to build an additional room at the Sports Core Pool to accommodate rentals was the intended project for the $100,000 balance. The total cost of that project is expected to be $250,000.

“We had discussed that we were intending to approve the addition to the Sports Core Pool,” she said.

Horn said the project’s final tally would be determined by a new group tasked with investigating the proposed room addition.

OPA Treasurer Larry Perrone said depositing $167,000 in the new capital reserve fund was recommended by the budget and finance committee during budget review.

“The idea this was not discussed or agreed to is not true,” he said. “The purpose of the new capital fund is basically acting like a savings account.”

Perrone said if further funds are put aside after the initial allotment, sufficient money would be available to complete the room addition within a couple of years.

Despite being previously opposed to the new capital fund, Tuttle said he had changed course.

“I did not support the new capital fund but have been supportive of it since casting the one vote that was opposed to it at that time,” he said.

Regardless of preliminary conversations about the Sports Core project, Tuttle asked if a formal decision had been reached, while also espousing the need for a strategic plan to chart progress.

“We [need to] identify what the projects are going to be,” he said. “That we have a strategic plan in place putting aside money and designating it towards a particular room that hasn’t even been approved yet, to me, is inappropriate.”

OPA President Doug Parks agreed with Tuttle about putting money aside without clearly defined projects.

“We’re establishing a fund that needs to be controlled and managed properly,” he said.

Parks said delaying earmarking funds would serve to push project completion out further.

“Arguably it would be three more years until we could do anything,” he said. “It would elongate the timeline unnecessarily.”

Parks also stressed the importance of involving the OPA Strategic Planning Committee.

“The strategic planning committee is going to be critical … before we do any further funding of that account,” he said.

Horn also noted that a work group has been established to examine the proposed expansion at the Sports Core Pool.

Board member Frank Daly said there have been recent directives to revamp the underutilized strategic planning committee, while also noting fiscal hurdles have stymied further progress.

“We have had to dig through so many issues that the idea of doing that strategic plan … it hasn’t fallen by the wayside, it’s just not a completed process,” he said. “We have the building blocks there but haven’t connected.”

Property assessment rates in the approved budget remained in line with the figures included in the recommended budget published on Jan. 24.

In total, assessment fees from 8,452 properties are budgeted at $9.1 million for the upcoming fiscal year, up roughly $50,000 from the $9.05 million collected during the current fiscal year.

Assessment charges for next fiscal year remain unchanged for the 6,716 non-waterfront lots at $986, but 1,361 waterfront properties will see an increase from the current charge of $1,451 to $1,501 during fiscal 2020/2021.

The increase in assessment fees, which were tied to long delayed but now in-progress bulkhead repairs.

Although not eliminating assessment fees for 19 Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department resident members, a waiver for cable and internet will match those figures.

The new budget figures on total revenues of just over $13 million over the course of the next fiscal year.

Reserve account balances, which include replacement reserves, bulkheads/waterways, roads and new capital reserves, reflect an overall fluctuation of $200,000, with a forecast balance of roughly $4.4 million to close the current fiscal year and a $4.6 million ending balance in the fiscal 2020/2021 budget that closes on April 30, 2021.

Despite those reserve fund totals, the budget includes substantial dollars for a number of ongoing building and infrastructure projects, including operating fund transfers of $2.8 million and casino fund transfers of $325,000, which are offset by total expenditures of approximately $3.1 million.

Detailing each account, replacement reserves has a forecasted balance of $2.7 million to end the current fiscal year and is budgeted to end next fiscal year at $3.9 million.

During fiscal 2020/2

The Ocean Pines Association Board approved by a 6-1 vote, with vice president Steve Tuttle abstaining, to approve the fiscal 2020/2021 operating budget during a public hearing on Tuesday morning.

021 ,replacement reserves are budgeted to receive $1.8 million in transfers from operating funds, offset by about $718,000 in capital expenditures.

Bulkheads and waterway reserves have a forecasted balance of $1.1 million to end the current fiscal year and are budgeted to end next fiscal year at $638,000, with $892,000 in transfers from operating funds and $1.4 million in repair expenses included.

Road reserves have a forecasted balance of $568,000 to end fiscal 2019/2020, and after a $325,000 transfer from casino funds with $936,000 in repair costs and is budgeted to end fiscal 2020/2021 at $638,000.