Merry Christmas / 2019 Budget

As president of International Village, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

As I announced at last Tuesday’s Board of Directors meeting, our new management team has produced a budget for our upcoming 2019 fiscal year which most of you should have already received in the mail. As much as I had hoped that the new budget would continue the trend of the last four years of either reducing or keeping maintenance fees flat, unfortunately that is not the case. The proposed budget calls for International Village’s first maintenance fee increase since 2013. According to management, the proposed 3 percent increase is needed because the association went considerably over budget on maintenance repairs in 2018 due to our buildings’ aging infrastructure and plumbing, including the ongoing need to replace large sections of deteriorating cast-iron pipe in every building with PVC piping.

Despite the proposed 3 percent maintenance fee increase, owners who were paying the Hurricane Wilma special assessment over the last 11 years will still see an overall 19 or 20 percent REDUCTION in their total association bill compared to last year, thanks to the board’s successful efforts over the last few years to refinance and pay off the Wilma loan without penalty – which allowed the association to end the special assessment this past summer. And all owners can be happy about the fact that their maintenance fees will still be lower in 2019 than they were in 2014. In fact, since 2014, the average 1-bedroom owner has saved a total of almost $400 in maintenance fees, and the average 2-bedroom owner has saved nearly $600 in maintenance!

The meeting to approve the budget is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 27 at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse. In order for the board to be able to approve the budget, owners must sign and return the budget proxies that they received in the mail by that date, indicating whether or not they wish to waive reserves. If the association does not receive a sufficient number of proxies by that date, the only budget the board will be allowed under state law to consider is one with fully funded reserves – which would result in a whopping 22 percent maintenance fee increase! So please be sure to return your proxies on time. You may also download the budget package here, print the proxy on the fourth page, sign it, vote it and email it to NAyala@condominiumconcepts.com.

Once again, have a blessed and joyous Christmas!

John Labriola
International Village President