Dear Residents:
Your vote is needed on the proposed Community Contribution Fee (CCF).
This proposed fee requires an amendment to the Declaration and is the most important unit owner voe we’ve ever held. By law, it requires that 68% of unit owners approve it.
What is the proposed CCF?
The CCF is a fee of 3.5 times the monthly common charge that would be assessed on a unit at the time of a sale. It averages $1,750 per unit. The buyer would be solely responsible for paying it.
Why do we need a CCF?
The recently completed Reserve Study for our 50+-year-old community shows that we need to be ready for the financial challenges of an aging infrastructure during a period of rapidly rising costs. A buyer’s fee is one way to help us meet those challenges without burdening the current unit owners. It is imposed by many associations across the country, including in Connecticut. Assuming the turnover rate of the last few years, the fee would contribute approximately $10,000 per month to our community for a cumulative benefit of $125,000 annually or $600,000 over five years. We can’t afford not to do this.
Why do people oppose the CCF?
A small number have expressed concern that these funds will be placed into a reserve account that isn’t dedicated to one specific type of capital expense. We have received almost no feedback opposing a buyer’s fee.
Why wasn’t it recommended that the fees collected go into one of the current Capital Reserves?
The funding of each of our Capital Reserves ebbs and flows over time, depending on need. Decisions are made at the start of each budget cycle about how much funding should be contributed to each. We don’t have that ability with the CCF because whatever we collect must be deposited in the fund identified in the Declaration. The advice from the engineering firm that prepared the Reserve Study and from our own legal counsel was to avoid narrowly defining the reserve it goes into because that would limit the application of those funds in fulfilling the needs of our community. By a vote of 11 – 3, the OVCA Board decided to follow the guidance of those experts. By declaring that the CCF fees will go into a Community Contribution Reserve, we leave the association with the flexibility to use the fees for whatever the greatest community need is at the time.
Why is it so important that I vote?
Your elected directors need clear direction from you on this proposal. Every unit owner needs to weigh in on this critical vote.
Those who haven’t submitted a ballot will be contacted to understand what additional information they may need to vote. We don’t normally take such action, but this is too important not to do so.
To view the capital reserve study, please click here
Thank you.
Bob Grosso, OVCA President
Myrna Mills Albino, OVCA Secretary
Dick Steinfeld, OVCA Vice President
Ken Colman, OVCA Treasurer