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Hot News Archives from year 20062007 Budget Meeting - Update 2The Shadowood Condominium Association held a budget mark-up workshop on November 4, 2006 to review the draft 2007 SCA budget. The proposed 2007 SCA budget as agreed to by the co-owners present can be found here. There were at least 12 co-owners in attendance. At the November 18th Board of Directors meeting this budget proposal will be voted on by the Board of Directors. Please note that the substantial increase in condominium fees will be allocated to funding increased spending on deferred maintenance, substantial increases to reserves and for the large heating and air-conditioning upgrade project. The co-owners present at the budget workshop expressed a consensus on funding the HVAC upgrade program through a combination of a special assessment and an increased condominium (monthly) assessment. Despite the increase, Shadowood's condo fees remain among the lowest in all of Reston, particularly among properties of our age and condition. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to president@shadowoodcondos.com.2007 Budget Meeting - Update 1
When? Saturday, November
4, 2006 at 9:00 AM Where? Shadowood Community Center (11639 Stoneview Square) It is at this meeting that the budget for next year will be formulated. There are several projects planned for Shadowood in the near future, including a new HVAC system, stairwell tile replacement, landscaping improvements, and many more.
Koger Hired for Full, Professional Management of Shadowood
As you may have heard, on Saturday
October 21st, the Shadowood Condominium Association Board of
Directors voted unanimously in selecting the
Koger Management Group to fully manage our condominium, its
finances and all of the common property. Koger and its management
team will begin their work on Wednesday November 1, 2006.
Although the benefits to the
Association are many, individuals will see few changes.
The Board has put together a short
list of frequently asked questions. If you have any other questions, please
direct them to
president@shadowoodcondos.com
The Board will compile the questions
and send the answers to all (unless you want your names used, they will be
removed from the answers sent to all).
1) Why did Shadowood make the change to full management with Koger?
Your Board of Directors made this change for many reasons. At the 2006
annual meeting, many co-owners called for a move to professional management
and indicated concerns about the in-house management approach that Shadowood
has used for many years. In addition, cost and HR issues were becoming
increasing burdens for the Board of Directors. By moving to full
management, the Association will save at least $7000 per month and
be freed from the burdens and risks of managing staff. The Board will now be
able to focus on contract management and spend much more time on many of the
aging elements within our community. The Board feels this move will have a
very positive effect on Shadowood.
2. My statement was not clear and my condo fee was not charged
correctly. Why would you trust Koger? Koger has
been managing Shadowood's finances since July 0f 2005 and did a flawless job
for the first year of the contract. In July of 2006, Koger was forced to
move its offices and change software unexpectedly -- both of which had to be
completed at the same time. To complicate matters, the previous software
vendor went out of business and forced the expedited transfer of all of
Koger's 600 accounts at one time. While this is no excuse for the errors
that a few of you experienced, the vast majority of the accounts were
correctly processed last month, all funds are properly accounted for and
Koger is rapidly working to resolve the remaining inaccuracies. The
problems that a few unit-owners experienced were software related, are now
resolved and had nothing to do wither Koger.
3. How will this affect me? Very little. You will still
pay your condo fees in the same manner you do now, you will still use the
same email and postal addresses to communicate with the staff and board, and
the phone numbers for the office and fax will not change. The Board
anticipates adjusting office hours slightly to better accommodate community
needs, including offering evening and weekend hours.
4. How does this decision affect the Association? A lot.
In addition to direct savings of at least $7000 a month, money that will be
used to manage and improve the property rather than pay ever increasing
administration and staff costs, the Board will be able to focus on property
and contract management. What's more the Board will have the benefit of a
large professional management company behind the Association with access to
contractors, suppliers, benefit programs and new ways of doing things that
were not previously available to the Association. All of Koger's on-site
staff will be bonded employees of Koger freeing the Shadowood Board of
Directors from burdensome and time-consuming human resources functions. We
also believe that co-owners will be more interested in board and committee
service. Rather than debating how many hours of leave each staff member
should earn, the committees will decide how Shadowood will look and operate
and the Board will manage the property and its budget.
Using economies of scale with
other Koger clients, Shadowood should have access to cheaper services from
contractors and service-providers than currently available.
5. Will my statements change? No. For the remainder of
this year, your statements will continue to look the same. The finance
committee is working on some positive suggestions including a budgeted
amount for gas and electricity consumption (which will allow your payment to
be the same each month), paperless statement delivery and a much more
streamlines administrative process. We will be consolidating from four
computer systems and software into one, eliminating the redundancies and
automating much of what has for years been done manually.
6. How can I learn more or help the Association? Check
the SCA Website for the latest
news, email your comments and ideas to the board at
president@shadowoodcondos.com
or join one of the
many committees that help govern your association and advise the board.
Tagged Trees and Pink Flags??Do you see tagged trees in the woods? Wonder what they are? Check out the Reston Association article on the landscape page for more details. ESL Courses (Now Suspended)Shadowood is again pleased to sponsor English as a Second Language (ESL) program. Details:
Where: Shadowood Community
Center, 11639 Stoneview Square
Cost: $50 for 16 sessions
When: Monday and Wednesday
evenings; 7:00 - 8:30 PM, beginning November 2, 2005
How: Registration forms are
in the office or call 703-620-5444 for more information.
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