I’ve never met a soul that didn’t like money. How about you?
· I
came away from the Board meeting on Thursday, March 31st pretty
upset about what I had just witnessed.
· While I will be the first one to tell you that I have never paid too much attention to our Management Reports or Financials (Balance Sheet/Statement of Income and Expenses) – mostly because I didn’t understand them – I DID understand what was said and am appalled at what I heard.
GM
Cook stated, “My opinion with the Carry Forward: it’s a Rainy-day fund.” Did you know
that right now the Rainy-day fund totals approximately $16 Million!!!!!!
Later
on, in the same meeting, president Lehrer – perhaps in a moment of agitation –
states that the numbers on the 2021 Board Approved PIF Budget for 2022-2035
were “bogus” numbers, a poor
choice of words.
I
wonder if they wish they could take back those words. Perhaps that’s not quite what they meant, but
that’s what they said.
And
why am I talking about MONEY? Because it’s OURS!
·
When
you moved into Sun City, you signed a Facilities Agreement.
·
It
states:
o The
Amended and Restated Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions
(“CC&Rs” or “Declarations”) run with the land and are binding on all
persons owning said Property and require each Owner to execute a
o Facilities
Agreement in favor of RCSC, including an obligation to pay
assessments and fees imposed. Each
Owner and all persons residing on said Property shall abide by the RCSC
Articles of Incorporation, Corporate Bylaws, Board Policies, and any and all
other rules and regulations of the corporation.
o Pursuant
to RCSC’s Restated Articles of Incorporation, Corporate Bylaws, and Board
Policies, each and every Owner is obligated to pay assessments and fees
imposed when due, whether or not Owners occupy the Property or use RCSC
facilities. The RCSC Board of Directors
has the authority to determine the amount of any assessments and fees, including but not limited to annual property assessments, special assessments,
preservation and improvement fees, transfer fees, late and lien fees, and
interest on past due accounts.
·
And:
- RCSC
AGREES:
- To operate
the recreational facilities for the benefit of homeowners and residents
of Sun City, Arizona, who qualify to use them under its Restated Articles
of Incorporation, Corporate Bylaws, and Board Policies.
- To impose an
annual property assessment upon said Property and its Owner(s) as
established in the RCSC Restated Articles of Incorporation, Corporate
Bylaws, and Board Policies to cover the costs
of maintaining, operating, and developing the common community
recreational facilities in Sun City, Arizona.
- You may know this fee as the Annual Assessment Fee.
- Presently it is $496.00 per household.
At
the end of each year, if there is money left over in the budget – called Carry
Forward Money - it is placed in the line item “Cash in Bank” located on the Balance
Sheet.
*Recreation Centers of Sun
City, Inc. Balance Sheet, Monday, February 28, 2022
·
Carry
Forward Money comes from Annual Assessment Fees.
- It has been accumulating at an average of about $1 Million dollars per year.
- This amount of money has grown to over $16 Million. Yes, you read that right - $16 Million!
- This is our money.
- This is the money that our agreement said was to benefit homeowners and residents
- This
is the money that is to cover the costs of maintaining, operating and
developing the common community recreational facilities in Sun City.
- This
is the money that is to be used for the “requests” and “wish list” items from
all the Chartered Clubs in Sun City.
- This
is cash; is it even invested?
What this is not is the Rainy-day fund for the General Manager.
- Is spending less than a million dollars to “try” out some new and improved fitness machines for the benefit of the members not deemed a use of our paid-up assessment fees?
- Why is the GM allowed to make that determination?
And that brings to mind all of the clubs that have paid for items that their club needed out of their pocket because they were told that there wasn’t enough money!
And yet when some of those same clubs donate funds to a charity, the RCSC holds out its hand demanding the same match.
Why? What does the RCSC need it for?
Where it should be going is to the Sun City Foundation.
And do we, as members of Sun
City, have to be concerned that our non-profit classification might be in jeopardy
due to all the CASH we have?
Folks! Please pay attention! This is YOUR MONEY! We need to get some answers about our money;
not their money; but OUR MONEY!!
Jean
Totten
Advisory
Panel, Sun City Advocate Group
14 comments:
Most members of the RCSC pay little or no attention to the numbers. There's really only one we focus on and that's the yearly assessment we pay yearly. The strength of the now departed gm was to monetize many of the aspects of running the organization. That's not being critical by the way. The problem is that not all numbers are created equal.
We almost always hear we have the lowest fees. The closest is Sun City West and board members tell us their rate is twice as much. It is except, a single person living there pays a single rate. At one point, 40% of their members were single owners. (They showed all of this information on their website).
The point here isn't how much we pay, or how frugal we are. We are the best value in the country. However, the organization was created to serve the membership, not collect millions of dollars in the bank. I understand why the PIF is where it is at, the coming projects will be very expensive. No argument there.
Where i take exception is how much money has been set aside from the annual lot assessment. The Sundial roof over the swimming pool collapsed in 2006 and we had no reserves. An account was started around 2010 with a goal of 5 million dollars as a "rainy day fund" (emergencies). We reached it in a matter of years. Currently it is at 5.5 million dollars (that's another good thing).
The carry over of a million dollars a year was intended to be used to keep us up to date. It should have been used for technology, for updating equipment and helping clubs be successful by filling their yearly requests. Rather than doing that, they shoveled in the bank. That's not a good thing IMHO.
It's prudent to have an operating reserve fund - the national standard is a minimum of 3 to 6 months; a large charitable organization that relies on donor/event fundraising for operating capital would be very comfortable at 9 months; 12 would be exceptional. RCSC has about a year's operating capital. Keep in mind, they have a secure source of revenue that provides about 70% of the annual budget just from the annual assessment; that's before collecting another dime from any other source. Therefore, we should not be in a technology crisis; no mini-golf course should ever have a shabby appearance; no pool table should need a new cover; exercise equipment should not be 15 years old, etc. Let me be clear: I do not believe in wasting money; it's prudent to plan for the unexpected. I was a non profit director for 14 years and know the challenges, but the penny pinching in order to have a rainy day cash fund of $16M is excessive. This is addition to the 2.5M reserve.
Finally, The fact there was bickering about purchasing a few small pieces of exercise equipment at the last board meeting was embarrassing. We should outfit one exercise area with a variety of equipment this summer, and plan to complete it in 2023 in preparation for Mountain View.
Jean Totten is a perfect example of why Sun City Advocates is just a collection pissed off people trying for some sort of change that cannot be precisely defined. Not to put too fine of a point on it but your group lacks the knowledge and expertise to be coherent on your comments. The exception appears to be Tom Marone extremely knowledgeable regarding Robert’s Rules of Order, something I admit I do not know on his level. Trouble is that he wants everything run accordingly, evidently he would like RCSC operated like England in 1215 and 1217 plus 1660. If we keep up with his vision (I do agree with some aspects) nothing would ever be accomplished because there would be constant arguments over unnecessary details.
Jean admits she knows nothing about financial statement and her latest diatribe reenforces that statement. Cash in bank is NOT accumulated cash carry forward. Cash in bank is the operating account for the RCSC. Think in terms of your checking account which you pay your bills with. As for the one million dollars annual cash carry forward, how in God’s green earth could you come up with that figure from an unadulterated interim from the end of February. Let us just say that it is impossible. So if I was to say that RCSC has $20,694,032 in unrestricted cash funds with $37,156,989 in restricted cash assets she could explain this and how I arrived at these figures. If not, this proves my point of lack of expertise.
Christine - if I may call you that - I'd like to take a minute to defend myself since you called me out by name. I will admit that I find your "handle" interesting. The real Christine de Pizan was a prolific, political writer and an early champion of women. She was the daughter of court intelligence during late Medieval Paris. My "handle" from the past is One Day At a Time but when writing here, I chose to use my real name.
If you knew me a little bit better than you write about me, you would know that I am scrupulous in my research when writing something that I may be lacking expertise in. I don't like to make mistakes.
With that said, in the February 14th YouTube of the RCSC Board meeting, around the 5:55 mark, you will note that Director McAdam is questioning GM Bill Cook regarding the motion that day on the floor to come to the aid of the IT department by requesting $500,000 in funds to get started fixing up the mess. Mr. Cook answers, "the $500,000 will come from our Carry Forward monies; an unbudgeted amount at this point." He went on to say - when Director McAdam questioned if this would deplete that account - he assured her it would not as the "CF is derived from Operations and represents less than 10% of our CF account at present."
When Director McAdams incredulously asked, "you mean our Carry Forward account is approximately $11 Million? He said, "Yes. The Carry Forward is an accumulation of multiple years. This is not otherwise designated; it's not Capital Reserves; it's Operational." Toward the end of their exchange (at 7:29 on the video), Director McAdam asked Mr. Cook, "Could you tell me where I would find that on the Balance Sheet?" He replied," it's in the Cash on Hand; that's typically the Carry Forward plus any operational funding for that year."
I did not "come up" with any figures; Mr. Cook and the Balance Sheet speak for me. If you take the time to research the Balance Sheets from each year 2009 - 2021, you will see that over time, the "Cash in Bank" line item increases almost every year. In 2009, the Cash in Bank was 926,826. By 2014, it had grown to 3,866,083; in 2015, 5,249,940; 2019, 9,553,845 and by 2021 it was 12,151,747. Since the Heading "Assets", Cash and Investments has only Petty Cash, Cash in Bank, and Cash-Money Market - I assumed it was all called Carry Forward. Perhaps that was my error, but I took what Mr. Cook said literally.
I'm glad you were interested enough in our blog to make a comment. I hope you continue to Communicate while getting a little bit of Education. And it would be interesting to know if your initials are really DW since just yesterday you talked about Roberts Rule of Orders with the same disdain that you did today.
Jean Tottten
Yet another in a long list of folks trying to paint the Advocates into their favorite whine, "a collection of pissed off people." It is so much easier than having a legitimate discussion about the issues. I especially love when you tell us we can't articulate what we want Christine. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Let's start with the basic's and move on from there. Educating, communicating and participating is pretty simple and abundantly clear. One of our goals is to stimulate those living in Sun City to start taking notice. We really don't care if you agree with us or not, pay attention to what is going on. That is how Sun City was built and why it was so successful. Those living here took ownership and the responsibility that came with it seriously.
Next we want to see transparency. There should be virtually nothing the RCSC does that should be hidden from the membership other than what is allowed under the laws covered in executive sessions. Here is a simple test, go online and find out the cost of the Grand Ave Rec Center. Go find the cost of the South golf course pro shop. Tell me where i can find a posting of the more than 100 million dollars spent from the Preservation and Improvement Fund (PIF). Let me save you some time, you can't. It doesn't exist.
Perhaps worst of all was your comments that Jean didn't know what she was talking about. Do us all a favor and watch the video from the last couple of board meetings. Listen closely to the general manager explain carry forward. These weren't Jean's words, they were the general managers. The carry forward has been a year by year accumulation collected by the RCSC and was supposed to be for providing services to the membership. Rather than spending it on the things like technology, updating equipment and requests from clubs they get every year, they simply let it "carry forward."
I wrote about it months back and here is a short summary paragraph: "Imagine my surprise when I looked at the Finance and Budget Information on their website for December of 2021. We now know over the past 12 years, from December of 2009 through December of 2021, they have increased those $ 7.5 million dollars to a whopping $17.5 million dollars. And to be clear, during that time period they also set aside $5 million dollars in the Capital Reserve Fund."
You can feel however you want about those excess dollar amounts, but calling someone out when they were using the general manager's words and numbers might be just a tad off base. Hope to continue to have fruitful discussions, it's how we all learn and grow.
I think that makes it perfectly clear.
OK folks, I am standing by my name for the time being as Christine in addition to what Jean’s google search also authored a book on medieval warfare rivaling Sun Tzu’s Art of War.
I still stand by comment on Jean as she never said what I wrote on financial analysis was wrong. This is a battle I had with Jan for ten years, where is the cash carry forward in the statement. After a long conversation which was confusing and made no sense, to calm my nerves she said I was part of the 1/10 of 1% in Sun City to understand this sort of thing and I shouldn’t worry. I started calling it the Brigadoon money after the musical. Flash forward to the current bunch who now take the Prego Tomato Sauce approach, it’s in there. New Boss same as the Old Boss. Bottom line we have no idea where this or if what he said is true. This is education Bill and I hope you enjoyed the free lesson. This is what I about your group having the expertise to call them on this.
I am also well versed in heavy construction, bidding, plans, RFBs, etc. This brings to something I saw on either TOSC or this blog where someone posted a figure for the cost of Mountain View down to the last dollar. It was stated an architect came up with this figure and how in the hell could he do it without final drawings or final blueprints. He is misleading you as there is a continuing fight over space.
That is all from me.
Next time Tom quotes specific RROfO provide the language as I do not have the time for a turd hunt tracking it down.
Well blow me away with a feather Christine. If you get it, why come on all snarky? We had this very conversation before the piece ever was posted. I know how little most folks know about our financials and all we are trying to do is take baby steps. If you had the fight/discussion with JE, you know how protective she was of the process. You also know there was nothing about it being the right way to do a budget.
During my three year term (2012-2014) i walked in her office, closed the door and said i've done budgets for years, worked on boards with budgets for years and i have never seen anyone do them like this. She told me her carry forward money helped her sleep good at night. Boards simply let her do what she wanted.
Everything we (the Advocates) are doing is just the tip of the iceberg. Restoring a sense of community, a sense of ownership and accountability cannot and will not happen until the majority of the board members believe the community should have a voice. And to be clear, i'm not speaking of the Advocates having a voice, i mean literally the community at large, or at least those willing to get up off the coach and speak up.
We moved from a community where the answers came from the membership and became an organization driven by the gm and supported by a board who thought loyalty to the corporation was the same as loyalty to the general manager. It's not.
Finally, you are right, the new gm is simply following the path set by the old one. I was told his first year here he told her carry forward wasn't the correct way to the books/budgets. Being a financial guy, that made sense. No idea how true the story was/is, but he is now doing the same thing and rumor has it he was her hand picked replacement.
Come on CdP, i expected better than a re-post in response. Clearly you fit in with a group of activists, so why be coy? You don't have to agree with us on everything, or anything for that matter. We simply want those living in Sun City to understand we can be so much more, do so much better.
You've apparently come to understand a collective process of governance is more effective than a singular head who just decides everything for us. Your writing style fits nicely with some of ours and you clearly have something to offer. When you are ready, step out of the shadows and show us what you've got.
Just my humble opinion.
BP, I think you have me all wrong. I stand by the pissed off people quote because that is all you are at the moment. Your slogan is inside out. Would not educate, communicate participate be more appropriate? How can you communicate if you do not know what you are talking about and encourage participation?
I formed my opinion on the mob after the Annual meeting. The group was just angry, maybe rightfully so, but did any of them read the by-laws as to the substance of an annual meeting? My answer would be no and the reason would be proxies. I don’t anyone there was familiar with proxies. Somehow a ton of proxies to qualify for attendance thought that gave them power to do anything, wrong mostly because they were led down a primrose path that they had some sort of power. This requires education before you shoot your mouth off otherwise someone much smarter than you will slap you down.
I do have much to offer but I am content doing it this way. I will provide a little background for everyone to chew on. After college I worked in a law office in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood for three years assisting attorneys with all aspects of the law. It was this training that I knew Anne Stewart’s was a loser and I told RCSC attorneys why and how to win it early. I also did some community organizing on building code issues and the state of local schools. I then entered the corporate world and trained as an underwriter, very specialized underwriter as I had to learn insurance, insurance law, civil practice law, Rules of Procedure on both State and Federal level, finance, heavy construction and that is the tip of the iceberg. So when I come off as snarky (I admit it) it is that I do not suffer fools lightly but ignore that, read between the lines and you will find that I do know what I am talking about.
At the moment I have a lot on plate so this is the best way.
Sorry Christine, but the reason the Annual Meeting was a fools errand was because nobody (RCSC or corporate attorney) could or would define what "affairs of the corporation" are!
I asked the question at the meeting, the corporate lawyer started answering until he figured out he couldn't explain it, then he turned the microphone over to Bill Cook who talked in circles and still never explained anything with any substance!
The Articles of Incorporation clearly gives the Members the ability to amend the Bylaws and with no-strings attached. By no-strings attached I mean the Articles don't refer you to the Bylaws for any additional requirements or restrictions, which it does in fact do 10 times for other issues! Then read Article IV, Section 3 of the bylaws. Any restrictions mentioned there?
The problem wasn't with the proxies, it was with the board and their hunger to maintain power!
Thanks for responding Tom. I was surprised to see C de P's comments. He should know the problem stemmed from the Articles of Incorporation. I'm sure he has read them and i bet he even knows how disjointed they became when the board tried to override them by adding language in the by-laws that is in conflict with them (that too is a violation under the existing Articles BTW.
The "mob" as you called them had been left twisting in the wind by the RCSC as we had asked repeatedly about how the meeting would work? How proxies would be handled? And in what manner the by-law changes we had submitted 10 days in advance would be handled? Answers were in short supply.
So we are all clear, it was pretty obvious the leadership at the RCSC was convinced we would never make the quorum, so what was the difference? Clearly, they were stunned. I do have to ask you C de P, didn't you think it was at least a little tacky to lock the doors promptly at 9 am? Or how about after all the board meetings you have been at this one time they lost the video? How odd.
Anyway, your qualifications obviously give your identity away. I'll leave that for you to tell, or not. We've had too many discussions to dismiss one another with the wave of a hand. I'll spare you my back ground and simply say, where i come from, arguing over whether educate comes before communicate or participate has it's own term..."Picking Fly Shit."
With that out of the way, you can add much to the discussion. You know the problems with how we have been doing business and helping change it should be right in your wheel house.
Hi bill you speak well and seem to articulate well and pretty educated in sun city.Do you know if there is a number or percentage of homes that may be rented here maybe in the bylaws. The way i understand it only one person has to be 55 and they can bring in any number of people family or not and that would be how to get around the age resrictions and how many people can in habit a home.Security cameras around rec center parking lots ever been discussed.Also do ww have any way to enforce the law here and do you think private secuity is even a viable option.The homeless population is upon us now and thats a tuff situation.Well i have spoken to you before and you are a common sense person but i am concerned we may someday lose our senior community. Thanks gene
Hey unknown. I see no point in time when we would lose our age overlay. Youngtown lost theirs because they never wrote them into their documents. In 1983, once the state and federal laws were changed, the residents of Sun City pushed SCHOA to have the age restrictions written into the documents.
There are no limitations on the percentage of homes rented in Sun City. There is a requirement that at least one person be 55 when it is rented. Our CC&R's are written so that it is supposed to be limited to a single family unit which could include multiple generations. That however precludes those under 18 living here for more than 90 days in a year.
SCHOA routinely deals with under age violations. It takes some effort but over the years has been successful in getting them to move out. They also are obligated every year to file the percentage of under 55 people living in Sun City. The federal statute is set at 80% but we usually are well over 90% each year.
It is the most important function SCHOA fills. They know that and it is why they work hard at enforcement. Losing the age overlay would change Sun City in ways no one would like. I know people get impatient but some of these cases just take time.
The issue of security has been raised any number of times. The RCSC is the most, best organization able to deal with the matter. They have the financial where-with-all to address those concerns. Several of us have been pushing them to add security camera's to every amenity we have in Sun City. Unfortunately their technology has left them incapable to do what need be done.
The RCSC did a presentation months back about security. They showed us several options. I liked both and each would bring another level of making Sun City more secure. I saw the proposal on hiring a private security force. It would not be the direction i would like to see Sun City go in.
The residents here fought incorporation from 1961-1995. They didn't want all the trappings of the city government that came with it. They understand our taxes would go up and we would become just like where they came from.
That said, it is a problem we cannot afford to ignore. I believe it starts with the RCSC taking an aggressive role in changing the community dynamic with state of the art security and the members becoming more engaged with their neighbors. Block watches used to be the standard, we need return to those days where a sense of community was the norm.
Hope that helps.
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