Residents,
We understand the upcoming Board Meeting will focus primarily on the budget and current events in the neighborhood. We want to give everyone an update ahead of time on all open Old Business. Since the last email, we received one additional question about the 2026 budget. That is answered below. The previous Minutes are attached for review.
Hayden Lakes Board of Directors
Old Business Update
Ducks – Statewide Animal Control completed their agreement and we are monitoring for invasive species.
Reserve funds – Placed into 4 CDs with annual maturity date on a quarterly basis. This gets the Association a higher interest rate of 3.5-4% instead of a standard checking account rate.
Insurance – Stayed with the same slate of companies we were with previously.
Enclave Lake – We monitored the water quality as Mirella progressed. After construction slowed down and turf was installed, the runoff reduced significantly. At this time, we don’t believe treating the lake is necessary or beneficial.
Ariat Dr temporary fence – Removed and replaced with a barrier as required at the expense of Mirella.
Pool deck equipment – Life rings cleaned as needed. Fire extinguishers tested.
Pump room lock – Replaced.
Pavilion repairs – Ladies toilet repaired. A faulty part was diagnosed and replaced. The part to fix the right water fountain has arrived and will be replaced soon. Recently, the shower head was in need of replacing and that was completed. There has been increased corrosion in the pump room from chemical fumes leading to premature failure of pump parts. We installed an additional, more powerful fan to increase airflow and reduce the effects of fumes.
Park rules signs – Main and Enclave playgrounds got new rules signs. Removed old sign.
Playground cleaning – Thank you to Chad with AquaTek! He is a resident who volunteered to complete this for free.
Landscape plantings – Boudreaux entrance, median, roundabout, pool pavilion, and main playground all got some new plants to fill in the beds. There were two damaged landscape lights and the one up light on the flagpole that were replaced recently.
Irrigation – We had several meetings revolving around pricing discussions with the landscaper. Repairs have been more expensive than budgeted this year. The landscaper tells us this is within normal wear for a 2-wire system of our age. We intend to continue reviewing options for 2026 and consider having a third party do irrigation repairs. This item will remain open.
Arborist – All trees that died or blew over in wind storms have been removed. We are reviewing the possibility of moving some tree pruning care from the landscaper to the arborist. We would divide the neighborhood into sections and start a 3-year cycle where all trees will get a thorough trimming. This item will remain open.
Legal fence placement – The Board continues to work on a firm answer as to the legal responsibility of the fences bordering residential lots with Association property. This will require a surveyor to determine where fences are built in relation to the legal lot lines. It is more complicated than initially thought and will take significant work on the part of a surveyor. We are attempting to locate CAD files from the initial surveyor to reduce workload, and therefore time & cost. There is not currently nor has there ever been a budget line-item large enough to maintain all outward facing fences of the community. The outcome will affect current repairs and significant budget planning for future maintenance. There is no defined timeline for a resolution as it involves multiple parties, but we are actively working to have this completed as soon as feasible. This item will remain open.
Christmas lights – There is a strand of 75 with a bad cord at the base of the front tower that will need replacing. We intend to have this completed in November. This item will remain open until completed.
Longer-term projects – Mailbox number replacement on the outside and new expanded metal over the grates in the dog park will be moved into a long-term project category. These will be completed as resources or volunteers allow.
The Board has been busy completing as many of these repairs as feasible to reduce expenses. However, some must be contracted out. If you have any questions ahead of the meeting about the repairs or Old Business, please email Board@HaydenLakesHOA.org.
2026 Budget Q&A Update
Instead of 10% this year and 7-10% next year, can we do 5% for the next 3 years? This gives everyone a break and sets the expectation so we aren’t surprised the next two years.
While the math initially appears to add up, a thorough analysis shows why this isn’t the best plan for long-term savings or assessments. Attached is a spreadsheet with two tables for comparison. The first is a 10% increase for the next 2 years, followed by yearly 3% increases to account for inflation. The second table is a 5% increases every year for the 7-year comparison.
Disclaimer that the budget is always a continuous work in progress and several assumptions must be made to do any kind of long-term comparison. It is not a guarantee that this will work several years down the road or that the Board at that time will believe this is still the best plan. Part of their duties is to do what is best for the community at that time.
A 3% inflation for the operating budget is used starting in 2027. The budget is slimmed down and once it is right-sized, will need to grow with inflation. The reserve study uses 2.57%. Most vendor agreements are in the 1.5-4% yearly increase range with some outliers like insurance being significantly more, as explained in earlier Q&A. If higher than normal inflation occurs, that increased percentage may be needed during the increased inflation period.
Explanation of the columns
Column A is the years.
Column B shows the increase in assessments from the previous year. The additional revenue compared to the prior year is followed by change in dollars per Lot in parenthesis.
Column C shows the total assessments per Lot.
Column D is the total assessments for the Association. This is simply column C multiplied by the 668 Lots in Hayden Lakes.
Column E is the Operating Budget for the Association. This is all of the budgeted expenses. It was decreased for 2026, but is simply increased by 3% yearly starting in 2027.
Column F is the Reserve Budget. This is the amount budgeted to go towards the Reserves. There is additional revenue in the Operating Budget from more than just assessments. Fines, collection reimbursement, and interest are just a few. While these numbers will most likely increase each year, to simply the comparison and keep it even, the amount has been left at the 2026 amount, $27,150, for the entire spreadsheet. Therefore,
Column F = (Column D + $27,150) – Column E
Column G is the recommended reserve addition taken straight from page 22 of the Reserve Study.
Column H is the difference of Recommended versus Budgeted, column G minus column F. A positive number is a deficit, or not saving enough. A negative number is saving more than recommended to make up for prior years of the study in which we did not save enough, mainly 2025-2026.
Column I is a running deficit. It is the prior year deficit plus column H of the current year. Again a positive number is a bad deficit in which we have saved less than recommended. The number increasing is bad, decreasing towards zero is catching up. These calculations do not account for missed interest for the full recommended reserve amount not being there. This interest is part of the overall reserve study cash flow calculations.
Analysis
Green cells show that with a more aggressive assessment increase up front, the reserve deficit trends in a beneficial direction starting 2027. With smaller increases, it doesn’t start trending towards a good direction until 2031, at which point we have over $300,000 less than recommended.
Yellow cells compare that at the end of this 7-year analysis, table 1 is only $20,000 deficit and trending better each year. By the following year, the reserves could catch up. Table B shows a $296,000 deficit at the end of 7 years with only small incremental decreases each year.
Orange cells show that at 7 years, the 5% increases yearly will actually have a higher assessment rate than 2 years with a 10% rate followed by 3% inflationary increases yearly. Those 5% increases will be needed well past these 7 years to recapture missed funding starting next year.