Tag Archives: local taxes

Lakefront properties can be costly liabilities for HOAs

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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities Examples of challenges faced by lakefront, Association-Governed communities   Members of Continental Country Club HOA, located in Flagstaff, AZ, have been fighting against nature to keep its ornamental “lake” attractive. Known by locals as Lake Elaine, the manmade body of water has been serving mainly as a storm water basin, leaking water into the porous limestone beneath its synthetic liner. In the 1990s, a court ordered the HOA to preserve Continue ReadingLakefront properties can be costly liabilities for HOAs→

HOA residents see no need for city tax increases

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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities Should this really come as a surprise? After all, local municipalities and counties have been pushing developers toward Association Governed Housing for 4 or 5 decades. In some states, all new development of more than a dozen or two homes is required to establish a homeowners association. City governments just love condominiums because they are able to assess property taxes to each unit separately. And yet, for all the Continue ReadingHOA residents see no need for city tax increases→

Does your private HOA community have fire protection?

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By Deborah Goonan Here’s a story from Canada. The Pinchgut Lake HOA found out the hard way that the nearest fire department, located in Corner Brook (20 kilometers / 12 miles away), was unwilling to assist when a fire completely destroyed a half-million dollar home in August. In the past, Corner Brook has assisted in fire emergencies outside its city limits, and has billed owners after the fact. However, most of that money has gone Continue ReadingDoes your private HOA community have fire protection?→

A Community Manager’s Perpective: The Wheels on the Bus (How HOAs prop up municipalities and counties)

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Reprint from California Association of Community Manager’s (CACM) 2015 Summer Edition of Vision Magazine. By: Vicki MacHale, CCAM, CMCA In 1978, Proposition 13, The People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation, passed within the State of California. This proposition limited the manner in which municipalities could assess property taxes. With the gravy train at an end, local governments began a frantic search to find new revenue streams to support city service. While it took them a Continue ReadingA Community Manager’s Perpective: The Wheels on the Bus (How HOAs prop up municipalities and counties)→