Budget Box: Operating Contingency

The official Hurricane Season for the Atlantic basin is from June 1 to November 30. In the past decade, our area of coastal Georgia has been impacted by several hurricanes and tropical storms, including Irma, Matthew, Idalia, and the most recent Debby.

Each year, TLA hosts a Hurricane Town Hall Meeting provided by Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA). You can find several resources available on TLA’s website that include the Hurricane Preparedness Guide by Chatham Emergency Management Agency, TLA’s Hurricane Guide and Emergency Operations Plan, among other items, by visiting  www.landings.org/resources > then click on the folder titled “Emergency Planning”.

TLA budgets a contingency allowance annually, which is a line-item account included in the operating budget each year to cover unexpected or emergency expenses, particularly storm-related cleanup. TLA does not separately budget for such cleanup because the likelihood of a storm and the costs associated can vary. This account can be compared to your household’s emergency action fund for unexpected expenses.

In 2023, the Contingency account budget was $125,000. The total spent was $18,069, mainly for Debris Removal, Seawall repairs, and Dry Stack repairs following Hurricane Idalia. For 2024, $145,000 has been budgeted, with minimal expenses to date, resulting from damage caused by lightning strikes.