MVC Trust Proposed 2016 Maintenance Fee

[SueDonJ]

As long as the developer/manager owns weeks, they can vote those weeks. The key is to get the owners to vote their proxies when they receive them. As the developer owns fewer and fewer weeks, the opportunity to get control of the board increases, but the owners have to vote. You can be sure the developer is voting their ownership weeks.

Except Marriott can gain back sold Weeks through ROFR, foreclosures and buybacks, which Weeks can then be conveyed to the DC Trust at which point the DC Trustee can vote those Weeks. I'd assume the Trustee's vote will/should be taken with consideration of the Trust's health and thus Marriott's health.

And Marriott is conveying all new developments and acquisitions to the Trust which will result in total Marriott influence from inception forward.

 

[suzannesimon]

Absolutely Susan. As time goes by, fewer and fewer weeks will be controlled by legacy owners unfortunately.

 

[dansimms]

DP Property Taxes

I am pleasantly surprised at how low the tax portion of the fee is on the DPs.

 

[JIMinNC]

I am pleasantly surprised at how low the tax portion of the fee is on the DPs.

Look back up at post #47 and it will explain why it is so low. The quoted verbiage below is from the Notes to the proposed 2016 budget for the DC Trust:

"The real estate taxes are for the Newport Coast, Timber Lodge, Desert Springs 1, Desert Springs 2, Shadow Ridge 1, Shadow Ridge 2, Frenchman's Cove, St Thomas Suites, and GRC Tahoe Accommodations because the Component Expenses for California and the US Virgin Islands properties do not include the real estate taxes. The Association will pay these property taxes to the appropriate taxing authority for the jurisdiction in which the California and US Virgin Islands Accommodations are located."

So the Property Taxes for most of the properties in the Trust are bundled into the "Component Expenses" category of the budget which is part of the main part of the Trust maintenance fee. These Property Taxes are paid by the individual resorts to the local jurisdictions and do not appear to be broken out separately.

So the Property Taxes shown on the annual DC Trust Owners MF billing is only for the taxes paid directly by the Trust for the seven resorts noted above which require the Property Taxes to be paid directly to the local jurisdiction by each deeded owner - of which the Trust is one such deeded owner. On my billing, the Property taxes amount to $1.51 per beneficial interest. The Trust budget for 2016 had $1.78 per BI for the Property Taxes paid for those 7 resorts, but there was also a "Tax Surplus Return" of $0.27 under revenues which was explained by the Notes as follows: "The revenues in excess of Property Tax expenses for 2015 are being applied against Property Tax expenses for the 2016 fiscal year." So net out the $0.27 from the $1.78 and you get the same $1.51 shown on the 2016 fee billings.

 

[SueDonJ]

Absolutely Susan. As time goes by, fewer and fewer weeks will be controlled by legacy owners unfortunately.

Or fortunately, depending on your perspective.

We bought into the Marriott system specifically, knowing full well that Marriott/MVW had majority influence and would insist on always having it. That's okay with us - we want Marriott to maintain the brand standard at our resorts and we want access to the large portfolio of Marriott resorts as well as the various Marriott Rewards and Destination Club offerings.

It's impossible for 100% of the owners to be in agreement over resort management. The few instances I've seen of minority owner groups trying to exert more influence over Marriott have been failures resulting in additional costs to all owners for legal fees as well as changes to Marriott's management style that hinder owner participation (remember when it was possible to email/telephone your board members directly?) There's also history of resorts having severed relationships with Marriott as manager, with owners having voted them out or Marriott unilaterally making the decision in response to owner dissatisfaction.

I'm not saying that MVW is perfect or that MVW's primary concern is keeping MF's costs down for owners - obviously that's not the case. But I am saying that I prefer majority influence over my resorts to be that of MVW and not of the owners whether collectively or individually.

 

[suzannesimon]

I'm all about having Marriott quality. It preserves a high standard. The independents may have lower fees, but if you ever needed to rent one of your Marriotts, you'll be glad you can, in most cases over your maintenance fees - not so much with a non-hotel brand. I used to work as a Community Assn Manager and know what a nightmare it can be when you get a couple of bean-counters on a Board who don't want to spend money on anything. My concern is more about a lack of weeks that will be available for weeks-exchanges in the future. Over time many of them will go in the Trust. The balance of power will then shift to Trust point ownership and the weeks owners might have fewer options.

 

[suenmike32]

Just received our "Chairman's Club Dues" bill from Marriott for 2016. It is now $250.00
I could be wrong...but I thought it was $215 last year.
Mike

 

[Superchief]

Just received our "Chairman's Club Dues" bill from Marriott for 2016. It is now $250.00
I could be wrong...but I thought it was $215 last year.
Mike

You are correct. This represents a 16% increase. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. The only new benefit that has value to me is the extended point banking option. With inflation less than 5%, there is no excuse for these exhorbitant cost increases.

 

[dioxide45]

You are correct. This represents a 16% increase. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. The only new benefit that has value to me is the extended point banking option. With inflation less than 5%, there is no excuse for these exhorbitant cost increases.

I think it is because they now have broken the DC Annual Fee down in to three tiers. It does seem that the highest level, Chairman's Club, saw the biggest increase because their pricing tier is new this year and much higher than what they were paying last year. We must know by now that no new benefit provided comes free from MVCI.

2015 Fees
Owner - $175

Premier Owner - $215
Premier Plus Owner - $215

2016 Fees
Owner - $185
Select - $185

Executive - $225
Presidential - $225

Chairman's Club - $250

 

[Ricci]

I just received the invoice for my Club Dues. I find it interesting that when answering the question as to what they cover.....

"This annual fee replaces many of the ala carte fees otherwise payable for various reservation and usage options such as locking off, membership with Interval International and trading for Marriott Rewards points."

And in another statement....

"Payment of Club Dues covers your membership with Interval International, trading for Marriott Rewards points and a number of other transactions such as cancellation of an existing reservation."


I find it odd that they don't mention one of the best benefits....exchange fee for Marriott to Marriott trades.

I'm not saying they've changed the rules....just saying it should have been mentioned and is a huge oversight.

 

[bazzap]

I think it is because they now have broken the DC Annual Fee down in to three tiers. It does seem that the highest level, Chairman's Club, saw the biggest increase because their pricing tier is new this year and much higher than what they were paying last year. We must know by now that no new benefit provided comes free from MVCI.

2015 Fees
Owner - $175

Premier Owner - $215
Premier Plus Owner - $215

2016 Fees
Owner - $185
Select - $185

Executive - $225
Presidential - $225

Chairman's Club - $250

I will just reconfirm, lest it be forgotten, that there are further tiers for International owners. So as European Owners, our 2016 DC Dues are $276.84 to include Spanish VAT.