December 2017

M aintaining an association’s common property is among the highest responsibilities of a board. One way to obtain this objective is to implement a comprehensive long range plan to successfully prepare for the necessary repairs or replacements of the association’s common elements. Communities rely on capital reserve studies to provide a budgeting forecast for the inevitable future repairs and replacements to the common elements. For some boards, this process can become tedious and overwhelming, especially if they find themselves on the short end of the “underfunded” stick. Here are some tips for board members that are preparing for their next reserve study: Best Practices of a Well-Funded Association By AJ Meola, FWH Associates, P.A.

Don’t Wait Boards of newer communities tend to put off preparing capital reserve studies, claiming that their existing common elements are in such pristine condition that their replacement and repair is not anticipated for many years down the road. While that may be true, a reserve study provides more than just a timeline of major upcoming projects. A capital reserve study is first and foremost a budget planning tool. A board does not want to find itself a few years

removed from a community-wide roof replacement project, only to be signifi- cantly (and unknowingly) underfunded. The owners of the units at the inception of a project have as much obligation to fund the reserve as

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