Click here to download the 2023 Year-end Expense Report pdf.
| Dues for Hilltop Homeowners Association will remain at $180.00 per year. You may pay this in payments of: Yearly (January)….. 1 payment of $180.00 Bi-yearly (January & July)…………. 2 payments of $90.00 Quarterly (Jan., April, July & Oct.) 4 payments of $45.00 Bi-monthly (Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept & Nov)……………… ………………………………………………… 6 payments of $30.00 Monthly…………………………………… 12 payments of $15.00 Payments must be paid in the months as indicated. Dues are owed and payable on the first day of each month and are considered late if not received by the last day of the month. If payments are not received by the due date a $5.00 late charge will be added to your account. Interest on your unpaid dues is accrued at a rate of 1.5% per month |
The Hilltop Homeowners Association Annual meeting happened on October 21, 2023 at 10 am at our park. Board members present were:
Teresa Potter – President
Ermelinda Sloop – Vice-President
James Sloop – Parks and Grounds
Roger Rosaya – Architectural Control Committee Chair
Wendal Bradley – Architectural Control Committee
Laura Harper – Budget Coordinator
4 property owners showed up for the meeting.
Before the meeting started Captain Hardy, from the Fire Department talked to us briefly. The Fire Department will be sending out a letter reminding homeowners of the laws as to parking in the streets. After that they will be ticketing cars in the neighborhood who are parked illegally as they interfere with the ability of the fire trucks to safely drive in the neighborhood. It was asked if we could mark the curbs at corners and in front of fire hydrants with no parking signs. Captain Hardy agreed that that was a possibility and that in the past that was something that boy scouts did for their eagle projects.
The meeting started with the question, has everyone signed in and has an information packet (click here to download the 2023 information packet). We then went on to ask if anyone was interested in being on the Board of Directors.
We then moved on to review the report of our deposits and expenses for January through October 20, 2023. We went over our expenses line by line.
- We discussed our property taxes, and how we are paying less than $10.00 per year on the roughly 13 acres we own.
- We discussed the storage unit that the Association rents. One homeowner asked why we keep a storage unit. We keep a storage unit to store paperwork (30 years’ worth), keep signs and other items owned by the association that are currently not in use or only used on occasion.
- We still pay for a website and domain name. This is now required by law.
- We still have our lawyer go after a very few homeowners who we have been unable to get to pay.
- We also went over the improvements made this year as well as maintenance/repairs.
Improvements
Replaced all picnic tables and benches at park.
Flagpole at front entrance will be replaced soon.
Added a gate at the entrance to the pond to keep out vehicles.
Repairs/maintenance
Repair of damaged wall at the front entrance after it was hit by a car.
We had the pond scum and garbage cleaned up at the pond.
Repairs done to the surface of the basketball court.
We then moved on to reviewing our proposed budget for 2024. Although our income, if everyone pays their dues, would be $38,340.00 we usually bringing in more because of payments of back owed dues as well as the income from the billboard. Costs for utilities, lawn maintenance, insurance and postage are increasing but we do our best to keep our operating budget within anticipated income to keep a bank balance available to cover unanticipated expenses or reductions in income. We discussed how the Board of Directors has approved charging homeowners for the certified letters that we are required to send during collection attempts. This is allowed per our bylaws.
Our plans for next year are to repair/replace the fence on Ridgeside Dr. and cleaning up behind it so that trees are not growing there. We plan to have the front flower beds replanted and to decorate for the holidays. We are also keeping in mind the need to do repairs on the drainage ditch. Since we know this will be a very expensive repair, we are trying to build up money in our account. How much of these projects will be done will depend on the cost. We have designated $24,000.00 for these projects but have not started collecting bids.
There was much discussion concerning cars parked in streets that need repair or are illegally parked. The subject of towing was brought up and why couldn’t the Association remove offending vehicles. Because the streets are public property, only the Police and Fire Department are legally allowed to have a vehicle towed. Even if the HOA has a parking policy we would not be legally allowed to tow. They only place where we could do so is in the parking lots for the park since they are private property and are marked so. We are currently working on getting the correct signage so that we will be able to legally tow a vehicle. Also, the state of our roads was brought up. The city says that they are under staffed and don’t have the money to do full repairs so they fill holes with macadam which does not last.
Afterward the meeting came to an end.
The October 10, 2023 Board meeting has been rescheduled for October 17, 2023. Place and time have not changed.
The park is in the process of receiving new picnic tables and benches. Please be careful of the construction as you use the park.
