Budget & Assessments Agreement |
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Budget
The community prepares a budget for each calendar year. By September 30, each team submits a proposed budget for that team for the following year to the Finance team.
By October 20, the Finance team presents to the community a proposed budget for Heartwood Cohousing for the following year. The proposed budget includes individual budgets for each team which take into consideration the budgets submitted by the teams. It also includes a contingency. The proposed budget must be reasonably affordable to all homeowners. Along with the proposed budget, the Finance team will also present an estimate of monthly household assessments.
By November 30, the community agrees on a budget for Heartwood Cohousing for the following year. Meeting this deadline allows the Cohousing budget to be combined with the Outback budget in preparation of the Heartwood Ranch HOA budget.
Spending
Each team is authorized to spend up to its budgeted amount each year. The Steering team is authorized to allocate the Contingency Fund as it sees fit for the good of the community. They may allocate some or all of the Contingency Fund to a team that has incurred unexpected expenses and is therefore likely to spend more than their budget, even if the team has not yet spent the entire budget at the time of the request. This applies to a team’s Operating budget as well as Extraordinary Spending and Team Reserve budgets for which the team is responsible. Total spending for the community (Heartwood Cohousing) can only exceed the total cohousing budget if additional authorization is received by community decision.
Assessments
All homeowners are assessed monthly. Assessments are allocated 50% on a per lot basis and 50% on a per person basis. For purposes of making this calculation, the census of how many people are living in each home is updated at the beginning of each month. People who intend to live here or do in fact live here for less than 30 days are excluded from the census. That means that anyone who intends to live here for 30 or more days gets included in the census and also anyone who in fact lives here for 30 or more days gets included in the census, regardless of their original intention. A person is removed from the census if they intend to or do in fact move away for more than 30 days. Children 5 years old or younger are excluded from the census.
Additionally, people with special needs may be excluded from the census. Special needs include various types of life-limiting impairments: physical, developmental, behavioral/emotional, and sensory. Because of the wide variety and degree of special needs, each situation will be considered on a case by case basis. If a household would like to have someone in their household excluded from the census due to special needs, the household must request an exclusion from the Steering Team. The Steering Team determines whether someone qualifies for a special needs exclusion based on whether the individual requires significant care or supervision above and beyond what’s typical for people of a similar age to meet their basic needs, prevent physical self-injury or injury to others, and/or to avoid placement in an institutional facility. After being granted a special needs exclusion, a household will notify the Steering Team if there’s ever any change in the person’s impairment that would cause them to no longer qualify for the special needs exclusion.
For purposes of updating the census, “staying” in someone’s home is considered synonymous with “living” in someone’s home. Also, any definitions such as Guest, Renter, Member, etc. from the Membership agreement have no bearing on the census. It is simply a count of people living in each home, presumably consuming community resources.
The calculation works as follows: Fifty percent of the total assessments to be collected is divided by the number of homes which have begun paying assessments to arrive at the per home assessment. Fifty percent of the total assessments to be collected is divided by the number of people living in the community to arrive at the per person assessment. The per person assessment is multiplied by the number of people in each home to arrive at the total per person assessment for each home. The total per person assessment for each home is added to the per home assessment to arrive at the total assessment to be paid by each homeowner.
Definition: Assessments are only those charges which are to be borne by the entire community, not special charges for such things as duplex insurance, carport maintenance, meals, etc. Special charges are paid by those receiving the benefit.
The total assessments to be collected along with past surpluses must be sufficient to cover the budget, not including that part of the budget to be covered by special charges.
Assessment invoices are distributed by the 3rd of each month and are due on the 15th. A homeowner will be charged a $15 late fee for each month that the full assessment payment is not placed in the HOA mailbox by the 15th. Homeowners are responsible for all assessments and other charges (including insurance, meals, laundry, etc.) associated with their home, regardless of who is living in the home (renters, guests, etc.).
Humanitarian Fund
We maintain a Humanitarian Fund. The purpose the Fund is to provide money to members in financial need.
Money comes into the Fund through voluntary private donations.
The Steering team has responsibility and authority to make distributions from the Fund based on the following distribution criteria:
• Distributions are only available to Heartwood members.
• Distributions are given only for financial hardship to meet basic needs, such as shelter, utilities, HOA assessments, Common Meals, medical costs, food, clothing, transportation to work, etc.
In determining the amount of the distribution, the Steering team exercises its discretion, taking into consideration such factors as the severity of the hardship, the long term financial strength of the Fund, etc. In any 12-month period, a household may receive distributions totaling a maximum of 50% of the Fund balance at the beginning of that 12-month period.
The Steering team provides an easy method(s) for members to request a Fund distribution. All requests and distributions are kept confidential to the extent reasonably possible. A member seeking a distribution may represent himself or herself to the Steering team or may use a representative. It is not OK for someone to seek a distribution for another member without that member’s consent.
The Steering team is not responsible for creating fundraising events, but encourages members to host them in order to meet fundraising goals.
The Finance team provides homeowners with an easy opportunity to donate to the Fund when paying HOA assessments. The team is also responsible for making collections and distributions.
At the end of each year, the HOA adds a portion of its overall investment income to the Fund based on the average Fund balance for the year in proportion to all HOA investment balances (or subtracts from the Fund in the event of overall investment losses).
The community prepares a budget for each calendar year. By September 30, each team submits a proposed budget for that team for the following year to the Finance team.
By October 20, the Finance team presents to the community a proposed budget for Heartwood Cohousing for the following year. The proposed budget includes individual budgets for each team which take into consideration the budgets submitted by the teams. It also includes a contingency. The proposed budget must be reasonably affordable to all homeowners. Along with the proposed budget, the Finance team will also present an estimate of monthly household assessments.
By November 30, the community agrees on a budget for Heartwood Cohousing for the following year. Meeting this deadline allows the Cohousing budget to be combined with the Outback budget in preparation of the Heartwood Ranch HOA budget.
Spending
Each team is authorized to spend up to its budgeted amount each year. The Steering team is authorized to allocate the Contingency Fund as it sees fit for the good of the community. They may allocate some or all of the Contingency Fund to a team that has incurred unexpected expenses and is therefore likely to spend more than their budget, even if the team has not yet spent the entire budget at the time of the request. This applies to a team’s Operating budget as well as Extraordinary Spending and Team Reserve budgets for which the team is responsible. Total spending for the community (Heartwood Cohousing) can only exceed the total cohousing budget if additional authorization is received by community decision.
Assessments
All homeowners are assessed monthly. Assessments are allocated 50% on a per lot basis and 50% on a per person basis. For purposes of making this calculation, the census of how many people are living in each home is updated at the beginning of each month. People who intend to live here or do in fact live here for less than 30 days are excluded from the census. That means that anyone who intends to live here for 30 or more days gets included in the census and also anyone who in fact lives here for 30 or more days gets included in the census, regardless of their original intention. A person is removed from the census if they intend to or do in fact move away for more than 30 days. Children 5 years old or younger are excluded from the census.
Additionally, people with special needs may be excluded from the census. Special needs include various types of life-limiting impairments: physical, developmental, behavioral/emotional, and sensory. Because of the wide variety and degree of special needs, each situation will be considered on a case by case basis. If a household would like to have someone in their household excluded from the census due to special needs, the household must request an exclusion from the Steering Team. The Steering Team determines whether someone qualifies for a special needs exclusion based on whether the individual requires significant care or supervision above and beyond what’s typical for people of a similar age to meet their basic needs, prevent physical self-injury or injury to others, and/or to avoid placement in an institutional facility. After being granted a special needs exclusion, a household will notify the Steering Team if there’s ever any change in the person’s impairment that would cause them to no longer qualify for the special needs exclusion.
For purposes of updating the census, “staying” in someone’s home is considered synonymous with “living” in someone’s home. Also, any definitions such as Guest, Renter, Member, etc. from the Membership agreement have no bearing on the census. It is simply a count of people living in each home, presumably consuming community resources.
The calculation works as follows: Fifty percent of the total assessments to be collected is divided by the number of homes which have begun paying assessments to arrive at the per home assessment. Fifty percent of the total assessments to be collected is divided by the number of people living in the community to arrive at the per person assessment. The per person assessment is multiplied by the number of people in each home to arrive at the total per person assessment for each home. The total per person assessment for each home is added to the per home assessment to arrive at the total assessment to be paid by each homeowner.
Definition: Assessments are only those charges which are to be borne by the entire community, not special charges for such things as duplex insurance, carport maintenance, meals, etc. Special charges are paid by those receiving the benefit.
The total assessments to be collected along with past surpluses must be sufficient to cover the budget, not including that part of the budget to be covered by special charges.
Assessment invoices are distributed by the 3rd of each month and are due on the 15th. A homeowner will be charged a $15 late fee for each month that the full assessment payment is not placed in the HOA mailbox by the 15th. Homeowners are responsible for all assessments and other charges (including insurance, meals, laundry, etc.) associated with their home, regardless of who is living in the home (renters, guests, etc.).
Humanitarian Fund
We maintain a Humanitarian Fund. The purpose the Fund is to provide money to members in financial need.
Money comes into the Fund through voluntary private donations.
The Steering team has responsibility and authority to make distributions from the Fund based on the following distribution criteria:
• Distributions are only available to Heartwood members.
• Distributions are given only for financial hardship to meet basic needs, such as shelter, utilities, HOA assessments, Common Meals, medical costs, food, clothing, transportation to work, etc.
In determining the amount of the distribution, the Steering team exercises its discretion, taking into consideration such factors as the severity of the hardship, the long term financial strength of the Fund, etc. In any 12-month period, a household may receive distributions totaling a maximum of 50% of the Fund balance at the beginning of that 12-month period.
The Steering team provides an easy method(s) for members to request a Fund distribution. All requests and distributions are kept confidential to the extent reasonably possible. A member seeking a distribution may represent himself or herself to the Steering team or may use a representative. It is not OK for someone to seek a distribution for another member without that member’s consent.
The Steering team is not responsible for creating fundraising events, but encourages members to host them in order to meet fundraising goals.
The Finance team provides homeowners with an easy opportunity to donate to the Fund when paying HOA assessments. The team is also responsible for making collections and distributions.
At the end of each year, the HOA adds a portion of its overall investment income to the Fund based on the average Fund balance for the year in proportion to all HOA investment balances (or subtracts from the Fund in the event of overall investment losses).
Revised 06/01/22