Eric B
TUG Member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2017
- Messages
- 6,135
- Reaction score
- 5,792
- Resorts Owned
- Vacation Village, Wyndham, WorldMark, Vistana, Vidanta, Flora Farms, HGVC Max, and some independents
VIRGIN GRAND VILLAS – ST. JOHN CONDOMINIUM OWNERS ASSOCIATION LETTER TO OWNERS Fellow Virgin Grand Owners – We write to you as we have had several meetings and wish to update you about a few things at our “Virgin Islands Home.” At this time of year, the board holds a budget workshop with the Management Company (Marriott Vacations Worldwide). The process of developing a budget for the coming year has never been easy. We meet several times, go virtually line by line through the budget, and usually ask the Management Company to rework areas with an eye to keeping fees as low as possible. This leads to other meetings and to eventually, sending you, the owners, a proposed budget in accordance with our by-laws. We meet again, at least 30 days later, and vote on the budget. If approved, the Management Company then sends a billing statement to owners and fees are due after the first of the year. There is always a tension between the level of service we, as owners, purchased when we acquired our interests at Virgin Grand and the financial realities, many of which are out of our direct control. The amount of fee increase varies slightly between Virgin Grand and the other 3 phases of the Westin St. John, but they have been in a narrow range if looked at over time. There has long been a desired level of reserves to be maintained for several reasons. In order to avoid special assessments, the Board of Directors has, over many years, built up two funds. One of these is an insurance reserve that has been established to cover the deductible portion of our coverage should there be a major storm or insured event. This has served us well in the past and will be there if future needs arise. The second reserve is a replacement reserve. This is to cover the scheduled replacement of items both inside and outside of the villas. There is a schedule going out many years that looks at keeping our units up to date. There are some factors that are beyond our control. Insurance costs have greatly increased over the years. There are a limited number of insurance companies that will cover a resort like ours. The insurance pools are impacted by events around the world and storms that impact California affect us in the same ways that storms do that are nearby. Electricity costs are controlled by a local agency and have gone up to be significantly more than we all pay at home. The storms and pandemic have impacted the labor pool and the cost of running the resort. A major area of concern to your board is the number of people who do not pay their fees, which leaves the rest of us carrying their share of the burden. We are now running close to 10% of owners who do not pay each year. While we go through a collection and foreclosure process, even with recent changes to USVI laws, it can take several years to take back the property and sell it to recoup some of our losses. This adds major dollars to each of us. We have carefully managed the reserve funds in an effort to minimize the amount of future needs. But with inflation and taxes on materials coming into St. John, we need to keep vigilant. The initial draft budget presented by the Management Company originally represented an increase of over 27%. After working together and several meetings, we have gotten to a level of a 15% increase for the proposed 2024 Budget. We are working with the Boards of the other associations and with management to try and find ways to be able to minimize future increases. That said, we do not want to reduce the level of service to anything less that it is or should be. There is good news in looking at the Spa, which is reopening and, in the plans, to expand the offerings at Lemongrass at both breakfast and dinner. You can help keep costs down by being aware of your usage of electricity in your units. You can report problems in your units when they are small, and not wait for the next owner to report a problem that has grown. Paying your fees when they are due has a major impact on not only your asset, but also on everyone else. We have worked to represent the interests and concerns of the owners. Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments with us. We, your owner-elected Board of Directors of Virgin Grand Villas – St. John Condominium Owners Association, are honored to serve you and happy to answer your questions and concerns. Sincerely, William Bolton (Bill) Bill.virgingrand@gmail.com David Futransky David.virgingrand@gmail.com John F. Hilbert John.virgingrand@gmail.com |
