Fellow Ranch Members, Since the December 10th, 2022, meeting we have been working hard to get things back to a professional and respectable setting as a Board that serves this community and we together as three Amigo’s have done quite well so far in getting some of this completed. The previous budget that was before you earlier this month, is a part of history now without the need to look back.
Looking forward– As all of you as individuals do your own budgets and have your own methods right or wrong as they are, you still have something that you took the time and thoughts to produce one that you find is acceptable. Before you now are the same from the current board, we have listened to the membership and tried to make the notable adjustments where it was possible, but also have the fiduciary duty to present one that works and one that is and has the fiscal responsibility for all the members of this fine community to make whole. The 2023 Budget was not going to just disappear because the last one did not pass. During this present year, many things were approved by the Board, to repair and have a forward look to protect the investments we already own. The decisions made at those times are only as good as the funding approved at that time also. Some of this funding is incorporated into this new budget that we ask for your approval on.
The current dues shown that we have calculated are at $230.00 yr., to be transparent, this equates to an actual dues of $205.00 if we take out the monies that were already approved this year with the delta of this that is going towards this Ranch house repair and this is not a year over year dues rate, yet a $205 rate next year to start with. We have as a board a duty to protect from wasteful spending on things not necessary. We offer to those who have ideas, to offer those ideas in writing as we offer ideas only when we’re confident about providing useful suggestions. With that, we are setting the funding for this inside this budget but have not and will not write any checks unless the work is properly done, contracts are fulfilled, retention withholdings are in place, the prices are within the scope, insurances certificates and licenses are up to date. The contractual responsibilities for these are on those of the board and the board alone and as before can only be legally signed by the Board of Directors to ensure proper procedures and funding are followed. No members of any committees have the authority to sign contract on behalf of the board or do so at their own peril. All the general assessments done for the Ranch house will be re-evaluated for priority as the funding we came up with is not all the monies requested because they all do not constitute and emergency and some may end up leading to other necessary repairs, so we going to do what has been laid out here, a major portion to start with.
Pasture Fees– I, as a horse owner myself, know that the cheapest part of owning a horse is the initial cost of the horse from there it is “Blue skies” so to the equestrian owners of the Ranch I know what these costs can be just to feed them and veterinarian care. The fee is for 6 months at a time per horse.
RV Fees- This has been reduced downward from the last budget and have some gravel in the budget to start to make this into a respectable lot, and we can use monies from the fees to increase the gravel, so a good base is made. It’s a start. The fee is a per vehicle fee not per lot, so if you have multiple vehicles you are going to have to register each one to inside the lot.
Reserves- This budget also provide us some opportunity to set up new responsible reserves going forward. But because of the costs for the Ranch house, we had to cut back on some of these at the asking dues rate of $230.00. Priority still goes towards Reservoir and truck reserve since these were already in place. Another $10.00 to the dues could increase the reservoir to a normal amount if you the members say this is ok. We will do our very best to see that this gets the needed funding by the end of 2023 anyways.
Thank you in advance for your respectful considerations to this new budget.
Sincerely,
The Board
