The context of this post is that FSR is recommending a steep increase in our HOA dues for next year. (An audio recording and AI-generated transcript of the October 19 board meeting where this came up is available on this site.) A discussion arose in the City Walk Facebook Group that I thought should be seen by more people, so I’m sharing those comments here.
- All the writers have given me permission to share their posts.
- I also received a couple of emails and permission to share them.
- These are all the posts I saw as of around 7pm Oct 23 that I got permission to share. If I missed yours, please let me know and I’ll add it.
- I personally agree with some comments and disagree with others, but I report them all here in the interest of open discussion. The most important thing, in my mind, is not so much which course we choose (from among options that are each going to be painful in its own way — so there’ll be no avoiding that) but that we arrive at it with as many owners as possible knowing what’s going on and having their input taken into account.
- I urge anyone with more to say about the issue to:
- Join the Facebook group (which is a good group to join, anyway) and post them there.
- Comment on this post below.
- Communicate them to the board.
- Attend the next Conversation with Board Members on Monday, November 9, the week before the board meeting where the 2027 budget will be finalized.
Facebook Posts and Comments
(In the order they were posted, as well as I can reconstruct. Each comment is not necessarily replying to the one before it. Most are parallel replies to the same initial post, but some are replies to replies, and some are completely separate posts.)
Tanner Hansen
After last night’s HOA meeting, I’m concerned about the future of City Walk. A potential 28.5% increase in HOA dues just to fully fund our reserves is alarming (for a 1 bedroom that’s a $200/month increase). On top of that, we’re paying $45/hour for a desk attendant. Seriously? Are we looking closely enough at our expenses before asking owners to pay significantly more?
Rising HOA fees make our condos less affordable and could put even more downward pressure on property values. We need more transparency, responsible spending, and a serious look at where our money is going. How is this sustainable for owners long-term?
Stephanie Denise
We unfortunately had too many years of 2 – 5% increases that were not enough to fund our reserves. As someone who lived through a special assessment to replace the elevators, I fully support funding our reserve. We should still pay attention to where our operating budget goes.
Debbie Flies
When I was on the board, we increased by 10%. two years in a row, and people were very upset. That was still not enough to offset the 2% increases that went on for 30+ years. One reason our building was so enticing to owners was because of our low dues. Our dues now will be more in line with what you will see in other aging buildings across cities. Unfortunately, that is the reality of the cost that we bear. We also looked at reducing staffing, which people did not want, but you do have to pay for these services, so if we want to reduce staffing, we have to be willing to not have someone in the office like many condominium buildings have at this time. We have to plan for the future, and as you will read in the minutes, by not fully funding our reserves, we will have to disclose on any property sale that our building does not have fully funded reserves, a new legislative law change -the only other option is a special assessment, which also hits people hard. There’s no easy answers. Cost of utilities and insurance and many other factors weigh into this. Please come to the next board meeting November 16 for the board’s final vote on the budget, and there’s also the owners forum on Monday, November 9
Peg Ganey
Back 4-5 years, I did an HOA comparison on dues when I was still selling real estate . Our dues were significantly less than the Point and Gallery Tower and I think I recall the Lowry. All had similar things the HOA covered. We were significantly less than the others. This wasn’t a good sign, even back then, regarding our reserves. Several years ago, when I was treasurer on the board , we didn’t have enough to cover our monthly operating costs. Another problem. So we’ve had a number of years of not paying in enough. Unfortunately, it’s all come home to roost. With the condo collapse in Florida several years ago, having enough funding became a hot point and now we have to disclose reserve underfunding when selling. None of this is fabulous news for the current homeowners. So unless the board assesses or raises dues, we must disclose the underfunded reserve. Great for long term owners that underpaid for years, not so great for new owners. This board, and the board before it, spent responsibly.
People keep saying they want the office covered at all times and that is coming at a significant cost. Maybe something can change there. In any case, Tanner, it’s all a huge pain in the pocketbook! 😵💫
P.s. Tony (our former board member) was SO on top of this and talked of this need at least 3 years ago at the annual meeting, and then again when he ran for the board a second time, but it wasn’t given just attention by the home owners.
Gabrielle Scundi
Doesn’t sound like there was much of a discussion on the increase other than there are reserve projects coming up to plan for, and no specifics so homeowners have a idea of the things that need to be taken care of in the near future. I’m wondering why this wasn’t a bigger part of the discussion at the meeting, seems like homeowners should have a clear idea of how each board member is thinking about the budget, especially since the budget is supposedly being approved on 11/15? I appreciate being able to pay monthly with HOA dues vs one big assessment, but I’d also like to have more awareness on what these projects are and the estimated costs, as I’m sure other people do as well. Might be a good idea to put those in the meeting minutes so it’s captured and clear for us, It’s a fine balance of keeping this affordable for people to live here & sell if they need to, and then also maintaining accurate funding for building costs. A lot to think about in the coming years!
I read through last months transcript and there was a lengthy discussion on Comcast costs and a large focus on excluding cable from our package in the future. Seems like more time and energy should be put into discussing other larger expenses (it’s more likely that in 7-8 years or whatever the time frame was, that internet & cable will be combined into one package since it all comes through the same fiber lines, making all of this commotion not applicable anyways). Also this refund that we are supposedly getting for signing the new Comcast contract…First Service is taking a cut of that for doing negotiations, which doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. If we are paying them as our management company shouldn’t they be advocating for us as part of that? The new contract doesn’t really seem to be saving us a ton of money. We’re getting a “refund” now to most likely pay a lot more after the contract is over, that’s how these big corporations make money. Theres always another deal and another contract that seems better, they always make the money.
When I was on the Board we talked about reducing payroll/staffing at the front office to just include normal business hours as a way to reduce operating costs. Some homeowners were upset because they were worried about getting packages and security (carrier services have access to the mailroom and the front desk individuals are not security guards). Most residential buildings are not staffed like ours is, that feels like something we could do to realistically reduce costs somewhere. We also had cleaning services scheduled during the week instead of including weekends, since we noticed less people walking about the building on weekends. Not that it all would make up for the entire shortfall, but in my opinion seems like a good trade off as prices are increasing for everything, everywhere. I also think that replacing broken machines/parts might help rather than trying to piece together and fix old washers and dryers that continually break and require repair, cause water leaks, all of which costs more $$$. Bottom line is I would hope that the Board is taking those kinds of things into consideration when budgeting for the upcoming year.
Debbie Flies
The good news is, once we do become fully funded in our reserves, perhaps and just perhaps we will not have see such big increases
Katie Shoen
I personally do not see the value in having someone sit in that front office literally all day and into the night? Having sat in that chair for a while in the evenings, it wasn’t necessary in my opinion
Freeman Ng
I think there are two options we should discuss.
- Cut staffing significantly. The tricky thing will be working out package deliveries, so the question is whether we can establish with delivery services that they can only deliver here during certain hours.
- Accept some period when we’ll just have to admit the reserve fund is underfunded. If I understand things correctly, the plan laid out by the 2025 reserve study is sufficient to fund all anticipated work for the next 30 years, so being on schedule with that plan (which we currently are) should be enough to be technically “fully funded.” But I guess there are other, external criteria that the plan doesn’t satisfy in time for 2027 (which I’m going to ask FSR about) so FSR is proposing that we accelerate the plan. But maybe there’s an option for us to say, “No, we won’t target 2027 for being in compliance with those external criteria, but 2028” or some later year. The result is that for 2027 (or longer), we’ll have to disclose to potential buyers that our reserve fund is technically underfunded, and we should definitely look into what the effects of that might be. (e.g. a lowering of our property values)
Tony Harmelink
We do know where the money needs to go.
[Two owners (names redacted)] spent $6k out of their own pockets to get the guide, the reserve study, when the board at the time didn’t feel the need to spend that for a plan.
And when meeting with a couple board members a month or so ago. The new management company _had not read it_ and wanted to spend thousands on a forensic accountant.
The blowup about Comcast funds is extremely indicative of somebody at First Service having no idea and not reading even the most simple of docs, our past budgets.
There was no missing Comcast spend, only the internet was broken out, cable TV was and has been a line item in the budget for decades at this point.
They aren’t reading the documents that are already present to tell the history of the building and do what is already known and planned.
Of course, First Service is not entirely to blame. The group of people who talked for years on replacing management company executed it in the absolutely worst way possible. Zero crossover, zero knowledge transfer, zero cross training, and to top it all off over a year of burning bridges and burning goodwill so the exiting company didn’t want to help fix the mess the board members who made the transition put us in.
We know what needs to be done. We have known what needs to be done.
The people we are paying to guide us aren’t doing the work.
And I want to be very clear, Anna Marie is not at fault here. She was given an insane task to try and handle the position she was put in by the transitioning board, with less support from First Service than she and our building needed, and still need.
Nancie Litin
I personally can ill afford a huge monthly dues increase —or recurring special assessments— but cutting front desk hours may be a folly way to save.
They are our only sort of building security and oversight, which to me is an essential need living downtown in today’s world.
While some substitute staff may seem to just “sit at the desk” for hours, most do much more sometimes invisibly -walking through the building & ramp, monitoring the cameras, reacting to emergencies, keeping unwanted persons and activities at bay, etc. Have you ever tried calling the “after hours” number for help at either First Service or their predecessor? And I am sure the staff is not paid an actual $45/hr salary; this must include benefits, required contributions to unemployment, etc and some hidden First Service HR fees.
This company was not my choice for a new provider, but the staff here are amazing! .. I agree that the transition was terrible, unfortunate & truly unnecessary. I have worked many places myself, have undergone many management/owner transitions, some of them equally hostile, but have never witnessed anything like this one.
The fact that our current provider is unaware of plans, services, contracts already in place is scary & frustrating .. perhaps due to that lack of transition or endemic in a large non local company peddling their own wares and not just ignorance/negligence. It certainly is not the fault of AnnaMarie or her staff.
We could try to augment the desk staff with resident volunteers, but I don’t think that is practical and would introduce insurance, ethics, and other issues..
I think the building of late has become a more harmonious environment and I am grateful to all who have contributed to that vibe..
Somehow together we will learn to budget and thrive once again. These open discussions are fruitful.
Thank you neighbors, board members and staff all!!
Benjamin Faust
Monthly HOA fees per square foot
The Pointe: $1.12
City Walk : $0.72
A 28.5% increase sounds better when compared to the 55% increase it would take to match the fees at The Pointe.
I have a friend at The Pointe that says they went through rough increases a while back. This is the reality of maintaining a community type such as ours in a sustainable way over the long haul.
Both properties are 1980s construction high-rise towers with moderately-priced apartment-style condominiums in the same neighborhood with somewhat comparable amenities – similar enough for a decent back-of-the-envelope comparison. These numbers are based on units currently listed for sale with their advertised HOA fee and advertised square footage for each unit. Differences were averaged to determine this number for each property.
Emails
Elaine Leister
As far as adding to the reserve fund, I feel that an assessment might be the better option. Assessments come to an end. Association fees will never be lowered . I think we should figure out exactly what amount is needed to get the fund where it needs to be. Then do the breakdown as to what each owner will owe. As an assessment, there will be those who can pay in full and immediately build the fund up. Others may have to pay monthly or quarterly, or however works best for them. It keeps hoas lower, which looks appealing to prospective buyers. And at some point we will have the reserve fully funded without ongoing higher hoas. I like being able to see light at the end of the tunnel. And it might just bump the reserve fund up more quickly. I feel we should have a plan B and know what our own personal amount would look like before deciding which route to take. Assessment with a deadline or significant raise in hoa dues indefinitely. Is there someone who can do the math and give us the cost per unit we might be looking at if we do an assessment? And the time frame required to reach our goal?
Carol Morgan Levy
While acknowledging the fact that the Reserve Fund was severely underfunded for several years, we would argue that increasing our contributions to the reserve fund by 38% would actually have an adverse effect. It appears that the Management Company argues that increasing our contribution to the Reserve Fund would make the purchase of a condo here more attractive.
We would argue that a substantial increase in the HOA fee would most probably restrict the number of persons who could afford to buy a Citywalk condo and maintain it. The average age of someone living in 55101 is in the 35 to 40 year old range. Fewer than 2% of those living in 55101 are under the age of 5. The average income of this person is approximately $55,000 per year.
From $55,000 this person pays approximately $10,844 in taxes which leaves him or her with a take home income of about $44,000. From this amount nothing has been deducted for retirement savings or health insurance.
From this $44,000 our new Citywalk owner must pay a mortgage (with interest rates increasing substantially each month) estimated at $865 per month, electricity (perhaps $85.00 per month), property taxes ($170 per month), homeowner’s insurance ($60.00 per month), and an HOA fee of about $550.00 per month. Owning and living in a one bedroom condo in Citywalk costs approximately $1,730 per month or $20,760 per year.
In subtracting $20,760 from take home pay of $44,000 the new Citywalk one-bedroom condo owner will have about $23,240 to cover health insurance contributions, retirement contributions, food, clothing, entertainment, etc. An increase in our contribution to the Reserve Fund of $50 or $150 a month may deter a prospective buyer from making a purchase.
Given the current financial situation which includes rising interest rates, job losses, and so forth, it would seem to be more prudent to keep increases to the Reserve Fund at the level agreed upon last year which would enable the condominium to reach the goals of the reserve fund study which was conducted two or three years ago.
While new buyers have always been informed of the state of a condominium association’s Reserve Fund, the new Minnesota legislation for condos constructed at 1994 suggests that a fuller, deeper, and more extensive picture of the condo association’s financial situation be presented to a prospective buyer. It appears to suggest that the buyer should be informed of future plans for the Condominium.
While the new legislation does not appear to apply to Citywalk because it was constructed before 1994, the spirit of the new law does suggest that all condominium associations place increased thought into planning for the survival of Citywalk as a viable place to live and that that increased thought be reflected in solid and available plans.