Finance & Legal minutes: 2021-12-14

Minutes:

12-14-21 F&L Meeting Minutes

Present: Debbi, Sharon, Becky G., Becky H., Jeff H., Amy

1. 2020 Surplus Proposal - follow-up discussion on Part 2 of the proposal

At the Dec. 3 community meeting, consensus was reached to move forward with
Part 1 of the proposal. We could bring Part 2 to the Dec. 20 community
meeting, or lay it down. If we lay it down, the $7945 would offset the
2022 budget.

One idea that has come up is to allow people who want a rebate to get a
rebate, and anyone who doesn’t want a rebate would leave their funds with
the community to go through a process of decision-making on how to spend it
as outlined in Part 2.

Becky G. reached out to our CPA.
The CPA confirmed:
Legally must rebate all or nothing
If some people give their part back, it would be considered a donation, and
we’d have to pay taxes on it, even though it’s GO’s money now.
Our lawyer had previously made it clear that we need to do all or nothing
with rebates

We ‘ve been advised over the years by our CPA and our auditor and lawyer
not to do rebates.
Main reason : it’s so challenging to get money from members in the first
place. It’s community money. The work still needs to get done. Find a
way to use it for what it was designated for.
Consistent advice. Got it when we decided how to deal with surplus 7-8
years ago

Where does this leave us?
We could let part 2 die.
Instead of only having a $12 reduction, we’ll have a $30 reduction in
fees. Only $18 is because of the surplus. $12 is because of the solar
panel loan payoff. In 2023 we’d only have a $18 reduction And we’re going
to bring back the surplus agreement for tweaking.


We talked through what might happen if we tried to bring part 2 forward.
We talked about when it is valid to block a proposal: When the issue has
the potential to endanger the community - morals, ethics, or safety.


Can’t put this off, new association fee invoices need to be generated on
the first of January. Becky G. needs to enter the info into Quickbooks by
then.


After more discussion, we agreed to pull part 2 of the proposal.
BG is doing GO bookkeeping tomorrow, could start a draft, everyone here
will have a chance to review, Amy will send on behalf of F&L.
In 2022 we will work on revising the Surplus agreement so we don’t find
ourselves in this situation again.


Sharon will talk to Mary and Syndallas. She will let Becky G. know if they
want her to mention anything in the email we’re sending to the community.


BG will draft a message to say we approved Part 1 on (date) and part 2 is
withdrawn.


HUGE THANKS to Becky G. for all her work on the surplus proposal.


2. Bookkeeping updates
* Arrears - some people have paid odd amounts, BG and BH have been
following up with them. One household took 2 months to notify us about a
bounced check, they are working things out. Another household is late; they
tend to be late and then catch up, not concerned. There’s another
household that may be having trouble. Will offer a payment plan.
* Other - Becky G. is paying reimbursements, working on year-end stuff.


3. New business -
* Our attorney is not responding. Best is to call and talk to an admin
asst. Debbi sent something in October, poked in November, no response.
Sharon: suggests titling emails: First attempt:, Second attempt:, Third
attempt. Ask him if there’s someone he could pass some of the work to.
Debbi will try again.
* We need to give Jeff a binder


4. Master Deed next steps - how can we move forward more quickly?
Debbi will send something out about this
1. Task: go through F&L mins since S&K weekend and see if anything should
go in the MD, flag date, send to Debbi - AMY will do.
2. Debbi found several things where committees were tasked with following
up on some things. DS will send an email to those committees, will send
draft to us first


5. Planning info item for a community meeting about township zoning
* MONKEY: Becky G: Rick is looking into whether we should change the
rental lease template we provide to landlords regarding access to interior
means of egress - any update from Rick?
* Rick said we should prohibit the creation of separate units (per Becky
G’s notes). This should be communicated to the community in January.

6. Ongoing items (same info we’ve had on a few agendas now)
CH Offices
* CH Com is working on getting signed leases for 2022
* BG is going to contact Gail to remind CH Com of the issues that have
come up around who has priority use of the CH offices. BG can resend to CH
Com her message from May with Rick’s views on the matter. Probably too
late in year to change the lease for 2022 bc Rick is slow these days. May
need to come before the community.

* Unit Modifications
* Buildings Com has signed off on the Unit Modification Agreements draft
* Debbi has formatted the changes we made last month and sent the doc to
Rick for review. He acknowledged receipt.
* From August’s minutes:
* When the UMA is finalized, Kathy will approach owners to ask
them to complete UMAs for the unit changes they have made. Our attorney
says we can’t enforce this, but at least owners will hear that they are
responsible for repairs and replacements to the modifications they have
made. (There are some exceptions, such as when some major changes are
added to the Reserve Fund.)
* Side conversation about how to define a modification. Is a
new closet a modification?

* Reserve Fund Investment Policy
* MONKEY: BG will ask the Credit Union for advice on trying a “CD
ladder” for new Reserve funds.
* MONKEY: Awaiting Mary’s return to A2 to invite her to meet with us to
discuss

* Job Descriptions
* Counted Member, Admin Asst, & Check Depositor done
* Still need to do (Amy to remind relevant people): Internal Bookkeeper,
Convener, Steering Rep, Budget positions
* F&L Cooler Doc - finish reading through doc together, next step is to
prioritize


7. Confirm meeting schedule for new year. Meet for shorter, more frequent
meetings to get MD done?
Tuesdays:
* Jan 25
* Feb 22
* Mar 22
* Apr 19
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