The Board Corner: Dollars and Sense

The month of June marks the beginning of the budget planning cycle for the HOA. This process culminates in an early December meeting when the budget is ratified*.

I encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with the procedure and refer to Section 2.3 of the Klahanie Bylaws for further details. The annual budget development is an important opportunity for homeowners to have a voice in controlling how the Board spends the community’s money.

You shouldn’t wait until December to get involved!

Start attending the monthly Finance and Operations (F&O) and monthly Board meetings now, as the budget is being built. Or even better, consider joining the committee!

I am looking forward to working with the F&O and the Board on the budgeting process, applying the principles of Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB). ZBB is a common practice in many local companies focusing on building budgets with required costs of doing business and then adding or subtracting optional “nice to have/want expenses. For example, the Association is required to pay for permits, licenses, taxes, insurance, and software. These are basic requirements for doing business. According to the 2024 budget, we spent nearly $180,000 on these.

Did you know that in 2024, the Association spent over $330,000 on water, sewer, gas, electricity, and garbage pickup? (2024 Annual Report) We see these utility costs as a potential opportunity for savings. For example, the Association is one of the largest water consumers within the Plateau Water District, which includes several golf courses. Kudos to the Klahanie maintenance team, who completed several improvements to the irrigation systems in 2024. We saw reductions in our water bill while maintaining the common areas in a green condition. Continuing sprinkler maintenance will remain a key focus area in 2025 and beyond, enabling the achievement of aesthetic standards, cost savings, and reduced environmental impacts.

PSA: If you see a broken sprinkler head, please take a photo of the area and report it to the office!

We have about 900 acres in Klahanie, and many of those are natural and common areas. To meet expectations from a landscaping perspective and facilitate hazardous tree management, the Association spent just under $500,000 in 2024 (2024 Annual Report). We are also working on ways to trim the budget in this area. For example, in 2024, we spent approximately $80,000 clearing blackberries. Our staff successfully negotiated a new contract in 2025 with a different scope, which saved nearly $50,000 for this year’s project.

Over the coming weeks, the Board and the F&O will review the budget line by line and actively question every expense. Our goal is to minimize any dues increases to homeowners in 2026, while still delivering services, making improvements, and completing necessary maintenance of our common areas. For the 2026 budget, the Board has many decisions to drive forward :

1) Applying financial resources to maintain or improve the common areas, including structures and facilities

2) Addressing new needs identified in the 2025 Reserve Study

3) Cost controls on expenses such as telecom, internet, & committee expenses

If you have an interest in the budgeting process and would like to engage, we welcome new committee members and homeowner attendance at the monthly Finance and Operations meeting, as well as joining the Board at the monthly (last Tuesday) Board meetings. Check the Association calendar for details on these and other upcoming events.

As always, we look forward to seeing everyone at meetings and expanding the circle of engaged community members.

*Excerpt from the Bylaw 2.3: “Unless at that meeting the Owners to whom a majority of the votes in the Association are allocated (a majority of the total votes in the Association) reject the budget, in person or by proxy, the budget and the assessments against the Lots or Living Units included in the budget are ratified, whether or not a quorum is present.”