Budget Box: 2021 Budget Book Highlights

  At the regular monthly meeting of The Landings Association on December 15, 2020, the Board of Directors adopted the 2021 Operating and Capital Reserve Budgets. These documents were placed on the Association’s website (www.landings.org > Governing Documents > Budget Book-2021) for review by the Landings community. There are 312 pages in the 2021 Budget Book, which may seem a little overwhelming to the casual reader. However, our goal is to provide a comprehensive explanation of all components, processes, and requirements of the budget process, as well as thorough explanations of programs and service levels, and their associated revenue and expenditures. Following are some highlights from the 2021 Budget Book. The total 2021 operating budget is a 2% increase compared to the 2020 budget and a 6% increase compared to the projected 2020 year-end expenditures (see page 4 of the Budget Book), reflecting reduced expenditures during 2020. As a point of context, the 2021 operating budget also is a 0.7% decrease compared to the 2019 operating budget.   Most of the major changes from the 2020 to 2021 Operating Budget are summarized beginning at the top of page 5. Included are items such as the tree and turf maintenance on center islands will be increased, mailbox/sign repainting program frequency will be doubled, and Marina live webcams will be restored. All changes from the 2020 Budget to the 2021 Budget are shown starting on page 9. The 2021 Budget reflects a projected Capital Reserves Fund starting balance of $7,520,164, total projected Annual Dues and interest revenues of $3,186,823, and capital expenditures of $3,615,913 (page 5). All capital expenditures for 2021 are listed on pages 282-283 of the 2021 Budget Book. The allocations per lot for the Operations and Capital Reserves Fund for the 2020 Budget ($1,850), 2020 Year-End ($1,850), and the 2021 Budget ($2,070) are reflected on page 6. The 2020 Operating expenditures were less than budget. Therefore, the 2020 Year-End allocation for Operations was reduced and reallocated to the Capital Reserves Fund. The Cash Flow Projections on pages 52-54 in the 2021 Budget Book reflect an increase in each year of Annual Dues through 2023, based on the successful 2020 Annual Dues vote. The ending cash for the Operating Fund has been managed down to a $1.5 million level (the Board approved minimum). The minimum level of the Reserve Fund under the Threshold Funding Plan as adopted by Board of Directors is 30% of the current cost of replacement/maintenance of the CAMP over a specified term. The cash flow for the Capital Reserves Fund shows that the balance will reach the 30% target in 2023 and reflects an ending cash balance of $8,074,852 that year. To determine adequate funding levels for the Capital Reserves Fund, an updated Reserve Study was completed in November 2020. The Reserves Subcommittee held extensive reviews of the updated inventory of The Landings Association’s assets. This inventory review included a description of each asset, its useful life, remaining useful life, and updated estimated replacement cost. The updated Reserve Study can also be found at www.landings.org > Governing Documents.   Shown at left is the 2021 Budget Book. The document can be found on the Association’s website (www.landings.org >Governing Documents > Budget Book-2021).