Welcome to the PLPOA Finance Advisory Committee Web Page
The Finance Advisory Committee serves as an advisory committee of the Board of Directors concerning Pagosa Lakes finances, budget and financial reporting. It consists of 1 chair and 4 regular members, and one non-voting BOD liaison.
PLPOA Finance Committee Charter
PLPOA Financial System Overview (must be signed in to view)
2021 Revised Capital Improvement Funding Plan
Finance Advisory Committee
Andrew Guszcza Jr.– Chair
Adam Blocki
Jake McMahon
Ericka Bailey– Board Liaison
Meetings
Regular Finance Advisory Committee meetings are held quarterly and special topics meetings are scheduled as needed. The next regular meeting is scheduled for 9/24/2019 at 6pm Finance Advisory Committee meeting are open to the public.
Agendas
Agendas are available prior to the meetings.
Minutes: View ALL
Quick LINKS
- Pagosa Lake Financials
- Pagosa Lakes Strategic Plan
- Local Financial Resources
- State Financial Resources
- Town of Pagosa Springs
- Archuleta County
- Region 9
- Colorado Demography Office
PLPOA Finance Committee FAQ’s
Q: What is the historical relationship between PLPOA spending and the TABOR limits?
A: Click HERE to view the documents answering the question
Q: How are our association dues determined and what do they get spent on?
A: Click HERE
Q: Where can I find monthly financials, yearly audits, budgets, reserve studies, and other PLPOA financial records?
A: https://plpoa.com/page/22408~364846/Financials (You must have an account and must be signed in to view financial reports.)
Q: I can’t make any sense of the monthly financial info (or the audit or the reserve study etc.), where can I go to get an explanation of how to read it?
A: First read the following document, Overview of PLPOA Financial System.
Questions about individual items can be addressed to the Finance Advisory Committee: finance.committee@plpoa.com
or you can attend one of the Finance Advisory Committee open meetings and ask questions in the member comment period. It is a regularoccurrence to go over the latest financial reports, and at times, hold brief seminars on various financial topics (given sufficient interest).
Q: Where can we find out more about the Reserve Fund status and how are the current balance and amounts put away each year determined to be adequate for future needs?
A: Click HERE
Q: What is PLPOA’s tax status and why is this important?
A: Click HERE
Q: Why aren’t member vs non-member income and expenses clearly segregated in our financial statements?
A: Click HERE
Q: Why can’t we just convert to a municipality and do away with the POA and member dues?
A:The main reason PLPOA cannot do this is related to the fact that most municipalities’ primary source of revenue comes from imposing a (retail) sales tax. However, in the early 2000’s the Town of Pagosa Springs annexed virtually all of the retail areas close to PLPOA, including the entire HWY 160 corridor from Piedra Road through the City Market/ Walmart area. This was a somewhat clever political move on their part where the explicit intent was to block PLPOA from ever incorporating, something we were considering at the time.
There are other reasons why incorporation is not a good option. Currently as unincorporated land in Archuleta County, the county is responsible for all road maintenance, funded by property taxes. Were PLPOA to incorporate much of this would become PLPOA’s responsibility to pay for yet we’d still be paying property taxes. Furthermore many functions already handled by the County would need to be duplicated, as they are in the Town of Pagosa Springs. We’d need a mayor, police force, Town Council, and the whole bloated modern bureaucracy of a city government.
As for abolishing PLPOA, one need only drive through areas of Archuleta County where there is no POA nor strict covenants in force to see why having one is a good idea. Furthermore due to the complex web of laws governing POA’s in the state of Colorado, mainly the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act of 1992, it would be extremely difficult to create a new POA that differed substantially from PLPOA as it exists now. The CCIOA is among other things a blueprint for POA governance and it is very strict as far as how things are set up and run. A good portion of operating expenses go to maintaining the governance structure required or implied by compliance with the CCIOA.
So in summary we cannot convert to a municipality because we have no retail sector on which sales taxes could be imposed. Either abolishing the POA entirely or setting up a “better” one we’d end up on the one hand with chaos and on the other with something that looked pretty much like the POA we already have due to state law. Therefore we have to pay association dues (which by the way only cover half of operating expenses) and impose other user fees to keep it running. All things considered it runs pretty well.
Q: Why can’t we apply for Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grants to help build [my favorite type of recreational facility], when we actually did get some GOCO funding to build bike paths and trails?
A: GOCO grants can only be used for facilities open to the general public. PLPOA’s Code of Restrictions explicitly states that all recreational facilities in PLPOA are for the private use of members and their guests only. See section10 page 20 here: https://plpoa.com/ResourceCenter/DocViewer/22408doc_filename=master%20dec%27s%20pusa.085c.arc.pdf&doc_id=1953842&print=1
Thus we cannot accept GOCO funding to build recreational facilities on PLPOA property without violating our own land use restrictions, which have been in place since 1970. However GOCO funding was recently used to construct bike paths and trails, in partnership with Archuleta County. But that is because the land on which they were constructed is owned by Archuleta County. All roads in PLPOA are county roads, and hence public. And all county roads have county right-of-ways on which sidewalks and bike paths were or can be built. As such all bike paths, trails sidewalks etc. built on county right-of-ways are open to the general public, and therefore in principle are eligible for GOCO funds.
Q: What kind of planning for future capital improvements is done and where can I find something explaining it?
A: Planning for future capital improvements is carried out by the PLPOA Board and Management, with assistance from the Finance Advisory Committee. A 15-year Capital Projects Plan is currently being developed by these three entities and results will be incorporated into the 2019 budgeting process. As soon as this plan is finalized it will be made available for review and comment by membership.
Note that aside from taking on debt (borrowing) additional capital projects can be only funded by one of two ways, or a combination: higher annual dues and/or fees so that the anticipated cost of construction is eventually accumulated in the three specific set-aside funds PLPOA maintains (Parks and Trails, Recreation Center, and Capital Improvements). The key output of the study will be to determine how much do dues/fees have to be raised each year in order to make sure enough money is set aside in these funds for the projects’ construction by the time they are scheduled. And then how much will Reserves need to be added to in order to fund anticipated maintenance and repairs post-construction, out to the the end of the 30-year time horizon the Reserve Study covers (to 2048 for the most recent study).
Please see the next FAQ “Who determines what existing recreational amenities get funded or upgraded and by how much?” for more details on how this process works, where and when general membership can become involved.
Q: Who determines what existing recreational amenities get funded or upgraded and by how much?
A: Ultimately the PLPOA Board decides this, based on input from membership, PLPOA management, and various advisory committees. For example in 2017 a recreation survey of membership was conducted and new or improved recreational amenities ranked by preference.
The provisional most-desired recreational amenities and other capital improvements were put together into a 15 year Capital Projects Plan by management, with a build-out and cost schedule. This was in 2018 dollars however, and did not consider inflation or impact of dues increases needed to fund them, nor how after they are built the additional maintenance and repair costs would impact Reserves.
The Finance Advisory Committee was asked for and recently produced a 15 year Capital Projects study for the Board based on this list. This study includes inflation and investment return rates (on accumulating fund balances), and the additional money needed annually (from higher dues and/or fees) to be put aside each year in three separate operating funds to pay for these projects. The study also includes a spreadsheet which allows the Board and management to to do what-if scenarios and adjust inflation and investment return rates, individual project costs, etc. and see how this affects fund balances and annual dues/fee increases needed.
After doing this what-if scenario analysis and the Board zeros in on a set of projects it wants to fund, the FAC will go back and determine what impact these additional projects will have on Reserves and whether or not that impacts dues/fees for the immediate fiscal year and then out for 30 years, which is the time frame the most recent Reserve study covers (though 2048). This may go through several iterations.
We are currently in the middle of this medium-to-long term planning process. As concrete decisions are made results will be made available to membership in due course, at Board and FAC meetings, as well as via e-blast and this website. The CPP will be a topic of discussion at FAC meetings, the next one is scheduled for September 25th, 2018, and open to the public. It may be on the agenda for the September 2018 Board meeting as well.
This is a very high level of responsible medium-to-long term debt-free financial planning, something that is virtually unheard of in just about any local, state or federal government entities.
Q: Where can I find out about the coming year’s budget planning?
A: According to our present bylaws the draft budget for the coming fiscal year must be presented no later than the October board meeting. The final budget must be accepted by the December board meeting. These meetings are open to the public and copies of the draft budget(s) will be made available to members.
However a new wrinkle in this process was introduced by the state legislature this year on July 1s, via the adoption of an amendment to the Colorado Common Interest Ownership act of 1992 (CCIOA). This amendment requires pre-1992 POA’s like PLPOA, which are exempt from some provisions of the act, to conform to a portion of the CCIOA allowing membership to veto any year’s budget. Please see the FAQ question dealing with this topic for more information. The procedure needed to do this while still obeying our bylaws has not yet been determined, and it may alter timing of draft and final budgets.
Here is a copy of the amendment: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2018A/bills/2018a_1342_signed.pdf
In the coming months the Board will determine a process by which this new regulation can be compiled with, and reconciled with the timing set forth in the bylaws.
Q: Where can I go or who can I contact with further PLPOA finance-related questions?
A: First be sure read the rest of this FAQ and links provided. If you have further questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact the Finance Advisory Committee directly at: finance.committee@plpoa.com
or come to one of our regular quarterly meetings. These are announced in advance and open to membership. Like Board meetings there is time dedicated to member questions and comments.
Q: What is the new CCIOA Amendment regarding member having the ability to veto budget?
A: Click HERE
Q: What state or federal regulatory structure does PLPOA operate under?
A: PLPOA operates under three broadly different regulatory authorities.
- First as a non-profit corporation registered in the state of Colorado, it operates under the Colorado Revised Nonprofit Act.
Here is a link to the entire act: https://hindmansanchez.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Colorado-Revised-Nonprofit-Code.pdf
Here is a good FAQ dealing with the Act: https://ochhoalaw.com/a-manager-s-guide-to-the-colorado-revised-nonprofit-corporation-act-other-statutes
- Second as a property owners association, it operates under the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act of 1992.
Here is a link to that Act (circa 2017): https://hindmansanchez.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/CCIOA-2017-2.pdf
and a FAQ: https://ochhoalaw.com/colorado-common-intrest-ownership-act-frequently-asked-questions
and a good legal blog explaining some of the compliance issues boards face (many other good topics on this blog, search): https://cohoalaw.com/category/ccioa-101-for-hoa-boards/
- Finally PLPOA must conform to the Internal Revenue Service tax code it chooses to file under. Currently PLPOA files under IRC 277 as a non-profit property owners association.
A good blog post explaining the various tax code options for POA’s can be found here: https://dwdcpa.com/blog/homeowners-association-tax-forms
finance.committee@plpoa.com