The following summary is provided by Diane Tomasik, resident and Webmaster.

Financial Matters

The board approved the proposed budget for 2004 after serious review of costs being incurred at present -- and ones Islesworth will face in the future.

A key item for residents is that the budget for 2004 includes a 5 percent increase in the quarterly dues, the maximum allowable. The maintenance assessment for each unit will be $235.70 per unit per quarter in 2004. 

The 2004 budget allocates more money to landscape costs and less to legal fees. As the community gets older, there will be increasing costs to remove and replace trees. Another upcoming expense is mulch -- which will cost about $3,000. However, because the dispute with Pulte over the roadway paving has been settled, the HOA's legal fees should be much less this year.

Street lighting costs are likely to rise in the coming year, if more street lights are added. Islesworth may have about a dozen additional lights if a lightpole is added at each transformer. Although Islesworth won't be paying for the light poles themselves, there will be a continuing cost for electricity.

Treasurer Robert Graves also mentioned that the community's cable TV rates increased by 6 percent.

Good news came in the form of no raise in fees that Islesworth has to pay to the Martin Downs Property Owners Association. And Islesworth also seems to have escaped -- for now -- a large increase in its insurance premium. Many other HOAs have been hit hard by continually escalating insurance rates.

The new property manager, Jerry Zalben, expressed his view that Islesworth's operating costs are in line, but the biggest shortfall is in the reserve fund. He recommended that the HOA begin working on projections and build reserves for major capital expenses. These reserves can be built by limiting operating expenses, by increasing the quarterly fee at a greater rate, and/or a calling for a major one-time special assessment. 

Board members are going to work with Mr. Zalben on spreadsheets calculating how much life is left in an item, estimate the replacement cost, assess how much we have on hand and then calculate the difference. They will then present the information to homeowners.

Palm Replacement

The diseased sago palm trees at the front entrance will be removed and replaced with Robellini palms on Nov 18.

Paving Proposals

There was a discussion of specifications for asphalt overlay for the roads within Islesworth. The property manager will obtain prices for the paving work from local contractors and present the information to the board.