Sept. Board Meeting -

HOA-FEE RISE REDUCED & BIG BY-LAW BALLOT . . .

It was a numbers game at Makaha Valley Towers September Board of Directors meeting, as attendees heard about next years HOA fee increase, a major by-law-amendment ballot initiative, and other budgetary issues regarding reserve-fund additions, major-project completion, and laundry-machine-upgrade timelines.

Financially, it was all to the good, as attendees were told MVT's reserve fund is still hovering just above the $3 million mark, even after major outlays for initial payments to upgrade the Towers' air-conditioning chiller and its hot-water system, both projects which are now completed and up and running.

That financial situation, according to Board Pres. Michael Targgart, combined with the payoff, in March of next year, of a years-long, multi-million-dollar loan for structural repairs, will enable 2018's HOA-fee increase to be held to a two-percent increase.

“Now we're done and have no loans,” Targgart stated.

The rise is one percentage point less than last year's increase and below the average three-percent increase which has been set in several previous years.

With a two-percent increase in 2018's HOAs, monthly fees for a studio apartment will rise to about $619, about $781 for a one-bedroom, and about $924 for a two-bedroom unit.

The meeting's second big subject of discussion was the mailing, in about a month or so, of a major bylaw-change ballot initiative, that will see half-a-dozen separate measures to be voted on.

The first issue owners will encounter is whether or not to allow the Board to purchase a studio apartment, which will be turned into a conference and meeting room, and provide additional storage space for MVT paperwork.

Targgart explained that having the additional space will allow for board meetings (and other administrative gatherings) to be held on site, at MVT, rather than having staff and owners travel into Waianae, as they do now. And while a winter-time board meeting has, in the past, been held in the Towers' current conference room, attendees at that meeting, he pointed out, have often commented on the “sardine-like” arrangement of having to do so, with the crowding likely to get worse as more and more file cabinets fill up that space.

The second and third measure on the bylaw-change ballot, are amendments giving the board discretion to okay architectural changes for owners who wish to upgrade the jalousie (louvered) window in the kitchen-area of their apartments, and provide for changes to apartment front-entry doors and the installation of front-door security screens.

If passed, the amendment would provide for a pre-approved double-pane, vinyl, vertical-sliding glass window replacement.

As for entry-doors and their security screens, several owners have already made changes with the acknowledgment of previous boards, but it was recently discovered the Board does not have that discretion under current bylaws, so passage of this measure would bring those changes into compliance.

The other three bylaw amendments could be described as housekeeping measures: allowing the direct collection of rent from apartments whose owners are delinquent in fees, and to provide for MVT's bylaws to conform with changes in Hawaii state law.

Back to financial matters, the Board approved a two-year continuation of the Towers' laundry-machine contract, which will keep the lion's share of wash-revenue flowing into MVT's general fund.

Without the continuation, and by entering into a new contract (with new washers and dryers), Targgart explained, wash-revenue would drop to almost nothing, impacting MVT's budget to the point that it might not be possible to limit the HOA increase to only two percent.

Additionally, Targgart added, the Board has voted to approve two, new reserve-fund line items, which, it is expected, will ramp up an additional half-a-million dollars against future repairs for spalling (concrete) work, and electrical and plumbing repairs.

“As long as we stay on top of these spalling issues,” he commented, “hopefully it won't get to be as bad as it was 10 years ago.”

At that time, Targgart noted, the Tower's reserve-fund had dwindled to about as little as $50,000.