Correcting the record on assessments and RSF Connect fees

[Longtime Resident]

Thank you Adam Smith for setting the record straight. Prior to the PPP Loan debacle and other evidence of board mistakes, many of us RSFA members, myself included, had been accepting at face value whatever statements RSFA and RSFGC board members made.

These elected board members are just human of course, but by my smart neighbors pointing out misstatements and giving the corrections, it really makes me wonder if it’s time for accountability and new leadership to join these boards.

I’m voting for Dick Clotfelter for the RSFA Board because I believe he has the the temperament to bring civility back to the Association board, and he has the experience and intelligence to right the ship and  steer our community back to being a well run HOA representing its homeowners and communicating with them honestly and openly about what’s going on in our community.

I was very turned off by the emails sent by current board members throwing mud at Clotfelter, making what have now been shown to be defamatory untrue statements about him.

What is the current board scared of about Clotfelter? I’ve never met him, but reading about him, he strikes me as just what our community needs in a leadership position. And because the current board didn’t fairly let his credentials be evaluated by members and voted on, I am really concerned about what they are trying to cover up by trying to keep him off the board and only have their cronies on the board with them. That alone makes me want Clotfelter and Alario to bring fresh eyes and independent voices to the Association board.

[Adam Smith]

In his recent e-blast “RSFA Election, Auditor Loss and Events” on May 10, Director Trubey made some misleading statements regarding the history of assessments, as well as the fees related to the RSF Connect project. As someone who’s lived here for decades, I thought it important to set the record straight.

Here’s what Director Trubey wrote:

“The budget passed yesterday for fiscal 24/25 for the first time in decades actually reduces the dollar amount of assessments and fees collected from Association members by 3.8%? [sic] That’s largely because we eliminated, many years earlier than promised, the $65/month surcharge for RSF Connect/Race customers. Only sound fiscal management could have produced that.”

Yes, you read that right: “3.8%?” It is, indeed, a questionable claim.

The budget in fact did not reduce assessments at all, and the fees he’s artfully decided to include are the fees charged to RSF Connect subscribers for the fiber project capital improvement loan.

Let’s first take a look at the assessment rate.

Assessment were 16 cents per $100 of valuation in the early 2000’s. These HOA fees were based on 13.5 cents allocated towards Association operations and reserves, and 2.5 cents towards the Open Space Fund. In 2005 the assessment rate was reduced to 14 cents, with the same allocation going to the Open Space Fund. The assessment rate remained at 14 cents until this fiscal year, when they were raised to 15 cents. That’s a 7% increase. And it remains at that rate for fiscal 24/25. It’s not a decrease, as Director Trubey seems to infer – it’s an increase.

The elimination of the $65/month surcharge for RSF Connect customers is not a reduction of any kind; the loan was paid off early by subscribers. Years early? I think not; in 2020 subscribers were told that the surcharge would be levied for 5 years. We’re at 4 years now, so perhaps it’s 1 year early. Why was it paid off early? Because members stepped up and subscribed in numbers higher than originally projected back in 2018. Association members are due all of the credit for stepping up and supporting RSF Connect, it has little to do with current “sound fiscal management”.

What the board does deserve credit for six years ago is doing a complete and thorough survey of the membership to determine whether or not the project would receive the required community support. It took a lot of ground work and education, over several years, to gain that necessary support to move forward with RSF Connect. Perhaps this is something the incoming board should reflect on as they consider the next big proposed project, the Golf Club restaurant remodel. How about putting it to an advisory vote of the membership?

[Author]

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