The 2025 Budget that was released in June is amazing. It is important to note that the bylaws state it is the director’s duty to present a budget to the members, not the treasurer.
Looking at the first entry, Lot Fees - $24,000. The bylaws clearly state the annual lot fees are $50 per lot. They either think there are 480 lots or they are including more than just lot fees. They have labeled it “GLSA/HOA Fees” in the past also, which makes more sense when they lump everything together to fog it up.
Here is a typical first entry from past budgets;
"425 Lots (8 excl. or owned plus 50 lien lots)367x50 $18,350.00". There was also a line titled “Projected Income from Past Due Accounts”.
Why was the budget format changed?
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The “Hall Use’ entry in the budget is $500! Seriously?? They had already taken in $900 so far this year when the budget was presented, yet they expect only $500 for the year.
The same thing with the ‘Donations’ entry. It is $200 and they had already taken in more than that in the first two months of this year, long before the budget was presented.
Next there is the ‘Carryover from Contingency fund’ entry which is $0. Some of that money consists of donations made to that fund by members and as such should be accounted for separately. How do they figure there wasn’t any carryover when the Treasurers report for December 31, 2024 shows a fund balance and the January 31, 2025 report shows a higher fund balance because of donations to the fund in January.There is no way that fund money should be lumped into the general funds without its own entry. Do not confuse this fund with a “reserve fund” that is specified in the Florida Statutes. The directors decided many years ago not to use reserve funds because it would restrict how the money can be used. This type of contingency fund serves no purpose.
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The next entry is ‘Projected Carryover 2024’ and that violates the Charter. Plus, the budget was presented in June so the “Carryover 2024” amount was known. There was no ‘Projected’ about it.
Next up is ‘Contracted Services’. The Secretary has a contract and they have a contract with the Palatka Newspaper? The directors dropped the secretary’s contract so she needn't claim the $70 a month as income, nor is a 1099 sent as required by the IRS.
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To top it all off, the 2025 Budget violates multiple Florida laws! It also doesn’t adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), that ensures consistency, accuracy, and transparency in financial reporting. Considering how late the budget was this year, we were thinking it wasn’t going to be done at all. That way they would have violated only one law; didn’t prepare a budget. Instead, the directors present this piece of work that’s more proof they are of unsound mind.