By Greg Ellison

Staff Writer

(Aug. 15, 2019) Ocean Pines residents were informed during the annual homeowners’ meeting on Saturday that the Ocean Pines Association’s fiscal 2019 budget ended in the black, with revenues outpacing expenses by about $116,000.

John Viola, who served as the OPA Treasurer prior to filling in after former General Manager John Bailey resigned in February, shared a financial forecast that was far brighter than those of the previous two years.

“We were favorable this year $116,000 to the budget, [which] is a big difference from the last two years where I stood up here and had to inform you of losses of around $350,000 and $1.4 million,” he said. “We’re definitely moving in the right direction.”

Viola opened the presentation with a breakdown of fiscal 2019 numbers, before venturing into a comparison with fiscal 2018 data and also highlighting operating funds actual cost versus budget estimates.

Fiscal 2019 assessment revenue was roughly $5.8 million and overall expenses for operating departments was approximately $6.25 million versus budget estimates of $6.27 million, reflecting a savings of about $27,000.

Viola noted that both the Ocean Pines Police Department and Volunteer Fire Company’s expenses were below budgeted totals by roughly $91,000 and $17,000 respectively.

The Public Works and Maintenance department expenses were budgeted at $2.16 million but in actuality were about $2.21 million, or approximately $41,000 over estimates.

“Let’s keep in mind they did address many items that were not in the budget, specifically for the Yacht Club, so overall I believe they did a very good job,” he said.

Viola also quipped the Recreation and Parks Department likely earned a gold star after cutting fiscal 2019 forecast expenses by around $120,000, trimming budget estimates of roughly $552,000 to about $432,000.

During his first month as general manager, Viola directed the staff at every department and amenity to analyze budget dollars to locate potential cost cuts.

“Everybody did a tremendous job [but] obviously Recreation and Parks is the poster child,” he said.

Viola said positive financial trends were also tracked among the array of amenities provided in Ocean Pines.

“We hear a lot in the news about our amenities and what’s really going on there,” he said.

During fiscal 2019 the total sum netted from amenities, which was budgeted at $474,000, totaled approximately $575,000, for a positive variance of just over $101,000.

“Food and Beverage [operations] this year is approximately $13,000 favorable to budget, [which] is a big difference from the prior two years,” he said.

Focusing on golf operations, Viola said the links operated at a loss of approximately $108,000, or about $2,000 over the anticipated deficit.

“Last year … the weather, especially on the peninsula, did not fare well for amenities, specifically golf,” he said. “That was across the board not just for Ocean Pines.”

In one instance last year, several days of subpar weather cost the golf course about $60,000 in lost revenue, Viola said.

“If we had had some favorable weather [for] golf … [it] would have been within that target that I had of somewhere between a zero and $50,000 expense,” he said.

Regardless of the high percentage of bad weather last summer, Viola said the future looks bright for Ocean Pine golf enthusiasts.

“I’m looking down the road at positive signs for golf [because] the place is packed,” he said. “That’s a tribute to the entire team there, maintenance, our golf pro and everybody else associated.”

Viola also noted marinas operations netted $25,000 above profit forecasts of $184,000 for a total of roughly $209,000.

“It’s the Ron Fisher effect along with his team,” he said.

Viola said fiscal 2019 numbers compared favorably when stacked up against fiscal 2018.

In addition to the Yacht Club finishing about $590,000 ahead of the prior fiscal year, Viola said the Beach Club also increased profitability to boost Food and Beverage operations about $830,000 ahead of fiscal 2018.

“A lot of that is the Matt Ort factor,” he said.

Viola said the Ocean Pines Association is in the midst of formalizing terms with the Matt Ort Companies to operate food service at the to-be-constructed Tern Grill, after coming on board to run the Yacht Club and Beach Club last season.

“I’m very excited about it and I know our golf pro is also,” he said.

Viola said to help reduce the previously accrued debt that weighed down the operating budget, annual assessments, were raised in 2019, with $71 of that charge dedicated to paying down operating fund deficits.

Viola said the operating fund, which had a balance of merely $6,000 in fiscal 2016, dropped to a negative tally of $369,000 the next year, before falling to a deficit of about $1.3 million by fiscal 2018.

Viola said the recent assessment increase has helped trim about $600,000 off the operating fund deficit, which ended fiscal 2019 at about $895,000.

“We went from the $1.3 million negative … to a positive $115,000 and that’s the way we will track,” he said.

Ocean Pines Association General Manager John Viola shared a brighter fiscal outlook during a financial report presented during the homeowners Annual Meeting on Saturday.