During the last board of directors meeting we discussed the lot a property owner wished to give to the association. Sounds like a no-lose deal, right? In a split vote the board declined the offer. Here is why I voted not to accept the lot.
When I was running for the board we had I believe 12 lots we were carrying on our association books. One of my goals was to rid us of those lots. We are now down to 9 and that is still too many. Why?
Every lot we own is one less yearly dues payment we (you) are receiving to cover the costs of operations and reserves. We not only do not get the dues receipts but we have the additional costs of real estate taxes, utilities access fees, and lot mowing. Adding the lost dues revenue and the other costs it will easily top $2,000.00 per year expense to us per lot, or $24,000 per year on 12 lots. That is a waste.
Sometimes a free offer isn’t really free when it is netted down. Should we have accepted the lot and held it for a couple years we might not even have been able to recoup our expenses. There are quite a few lots for sale right now due to the economy. Many folks simply do not want the added expense when out of work and if they purchased in the hope of a future profit when sold, that seems some time away. Yes, if we refuse an offered lot the owners may not pay their dues. We will pursue the amount owed but if we took the lot we absolutely would not get the dues and there would not be recourse.
I wish the economy was such that we could accept lots and simply sell them, taking the burden from the lot owner. I believe we must always have as an utmost priority the good of our property owners as a whole. Accepting the lot would violate that trust.