RA proposes assessment hike
By Claire Compton
A draft Reston Association budget proposes increasing assessments to $475 in 2008 and $483 in 2009, although the board makes a final decision on assessments at the end of each year. The figure is currently $437.
“There's a possibility those numbers could go up or down,” Reston Association CEO Milton Matthews said.
The Reston Association's 2008-09 budget will be voted on Nov. 15 at the regular board meeting. The process has included two work meetings for the board and input from RA members at public hearings.
Matthews and CFO David Hopkins presented the draft budget at the regular board meeting last Thursday.
The increased assessments are being considered to build up RA's Repair and Replacement Fund, which had a balance of $4.2 million as of Aug. 31. The proposed assessments would add $200,000 to the fund over the next two years.
In addition to a percentage of the assessments, all returns on RA investments are put into the R and R fund. The fund is used for the repair and replacement of RA facilities and capital projects, which are defined as costing more than $5,000 and having at least a three-year lifespan.
As it stands now, the R and R fund balance is not enough to handle projects that the RA will have to undertake in the coming years.
“Looking forward, our facilities are getting older, and we know we're going to be drawing from that fund. Right now we don't have sufficient dollars,” Matthews said.
Assessment dollars make up 78 percent of the RA's operating revenue but are the last source of revenue to be used in the “bottom-up approach,” Matthews said. Monies from investment income, facility user fees and the RA's transfer fee are all used before assessments.
“We work our way up to the assessment. We're trying to become less and less dependent on assessments,” Matthews said.
The primary expense in RA's operating budget is personnel. The association employs a full-time staff of 78, four part-time employees and about 300 to 350 seasonal employees.
Although a public hearing held Saturday attracted only one person, several members added comment at Thursday's meeting.
Two RA members came to the meeting wearing homemade T-shirts emblazoned with “Indoor Tennis.”
“It seems to be a hot topic this year,” said Hopkins.
The push for an indoor tennis facility has had support for several years. The RA has budgeted for a referendum on an “indoor recreational facility.” The board will decide whether that will include tennis before the referendum is sent to the members in 2008 or 2009.
“We will explore all types of structures,” Matthews said. “My understanding is that indoor tennis has been on the agenda for a number of years.”
An additional referendum is planned for RA headquarters. The current lease in Isaac Newton Square is up in 2009, at which point the RA hopes to either build or purchase its own space.
Each referendum costs about $80,000, Hopkins said.