Bella Vista

Whoaaaa! We just received our 2009 budget along with our assessment coupon booklet. Our HOA fees have been raised $5 a quarter or $20 a year.

This brings our yearly assessment to $135 a quarter or $540 annually.

What is the board thinking? Was there no time spent in figuring out how to decrease our yearly fees? What could possibly be behind this, is there one good reason?

More to come on this subject I'm sure. If you haven't taken a look already, click on the Community Page link of 2008/2009 Budget differences. See it in print and wonder.

Oh, here's the link for you now.

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/hillsboroughco/bellavista/genpage/881963135.html

In some communities they actually give credit to the next years fees if there is money in a reserve. What most people fail to realize is that the money in reserve is the Home owners money not the communities. Trust me Bella Vista has a reserve. But the current management and some board members don't want the residents to ask for this credit citing that if there were a major expense, they would have to assess each home for the expense. In a down economy and having money in reserve it is not a time to look for an increase! If the residents would let their feelings be known or run for the board and get someone on the board who truly wants to make a difference and pay attention to the "little things" we would all be better off. By the way-there is a breach in the burm that seperates the pond from the lake. I brought this to a board members attention more than a year ago when it was small and easy to fix, now it is huge and will be more expensive to fix. Tell me why the residents have to foot the bill for the board not taking care of this sooner! It's not fair. They should look into giving the rights to the lake to the county so they can maintain it and stop making it a finacial burden to all of us. You can't fish,swim or canoe on the lake anyway so what is it there for? To look at? Save money-do away with the lame parties we have twice a year and stop raising fees. WAKE UP PEOPLE! STOP DRINKING THE KOOLAID!

Good post, Rich. Bravo!

What about the property on the other side of the Veteran's that we own? Can we somehow get that uselss land off our shoulders too? Maybe the county would like to have that in their E.L.A.P.P portfolio? What benefits do we have with this property anyway if any? What can be done with it? This is something I woke up thinking about the other day. Don't know why though.

I drove around the lake yesterday morning and I couldn't even see the top of the burm, only some brush sticking up. The water is still high from all the summer rains. Maybe it's time to call SWFWMD to come take a look at this and get some recommendations. We are paying a monthly mediation service to monitor this lake but what are we getting for the $250+ a month we pay? I think it's all bogus and needs a closer look.