Your Opinion Needed: Association Turnover

It is anticipated that two of Victor Gardens’ associations will be turned over to homeowners at the upcoming Annual Meeting.  As of now, the meeting is not confirmed, but will likely take place in mid-April.

Victor Gardens Community Association (the master association):

VG’s Developer, CPDC, has proposed the turnover of the master homeowners association to residents.  Residents, including those serving on the Board Advisory Group, are reviewing this proposal.  There are questions that residents will have prior to the turnover.  Please use the “Add A Comment” feature below to contribute to this process. Transition is a permanent change.  It is important that everyone understands the potential benefits or problems in advance.  From the information available at this time a VGCA Master Board would be comprised of one representative from each of the sub-associations.  Please refer to the Docs (Documents) page for an organizational chart illustrating the sub-associations.

Victor Gardens Single Family Village  (sub-association to the Victor Gardens Community Association): 

The Beard Group’s recent purchase of 26 lots in Victor Gardens East has fulfilled the pre-set requirement for resident turnover.   The Single Family Village marks VG’s third sub-association, after the Gables Association and Villas Association, to be transitioned from a Developer/Builder.

Future Board of Directors:

Both Associations will require homeowners to staff the future Boards.  As a part of the turnover process, new Board Members will be nominated and elected.  Residents have seen the great benefit of homeowner involvement over the last year.  It will be very important for homeowners to stay involved, ensuring the success of our neighborhood.

Please use the “Comment” feature to contribute your thoughts and questions about the proposed transition.  It’s best to carefully consider this issue before questions arise later.

Budgets Finalized - Dues Increase

2009 Budgets have been finalized for the Victor Gardens Community Association (the master association) and the VG Single Family Village.  The new budgets approved by the Board of Directors reflect a 25% increase of dues paid to the master association by VG’s sub-associations.

Visit the Financials page to view and download the final Budgets.

Below is a copy of  the Board of Directors letter mailed to homeowners this week.  It explains the Board’s reasoning behind the increases: 

Victor Gardens Single Family Village

Homeowners Association

7100 Madison Avenue West

Golden Valley, MN 55427

February 22, 2008

Dear Homeowner, 

Enclosed with this letter, please find the new budget for the Victor Gardens Community Association and Victor Gardens Single Family Village Association.  The fiscal year for the Victor Gardens Community Association ends on March 31, 2008; therefore the new fiscal year begins on April 1, 2008.

The Board, along with the assistance of your management company, has given the 2008-2009 Association budget careful consideration.  One of the main functions of the Board of Directors is to maintain property values; therefore an increase of the annual dues is necessary.  Furthermore, the Board has researched association dues for communities with similar number of homes and similar amenities and determined that our dues are in line with other communities.

The main reason for the increase is to relieve the current outstanding association expenses.   On the enclosed budget, you will notice an excess of revenue over expenses.  These funds will be used to pay the outstanding expenses from the current and previous years.   The total amount of outstanding expenses as of February 15, 2008 is $61,160.00.  The future budgets will have an excess of revenue for this reason. 

The overwhelming majority of this shortfall is in part because of the decrease in sales due to current market conditions and all of the common amenities, such as the pool, parks, activity center, etc. being completed.  The expenses were incurred because the amenities require ongoing maintenance and repairs.

Effective April 1, 2008 the annual master association dues shall be $582.00.  Dues will be billed on a quarterly basis for the single-family homes and monthly for the townhomes, consistent with the decision of each sub-association Board of Directors.  

The annual dues for the Village Homes shall be $745.00.  This increase of the annual assessment is due solely to the increase in the Master Association’s assessments.  The quarterly dues shall be $186.25.

In a separate mailing you will receive a set of coupons.  If you are using EFT (automatic withdrawal) for your Homeowners Association dues payments, you will not need to make any changes with your bank.  The bank will automatically withdraw $154.50 each quarter from your account.

If you have any questions please contact the Association’s Community Manager,  Gina Lampe  at   763-225-6438 or via email at glampe@developcommunity.com  

Thank you.

The Board of Directors

Victor Gardens Single Family Village Homeowners Association