permits because the municipality can offload stuff they normally would be responsible for to somebody else- but once they exist it’s next to impossible to get rid of them.

I’m looking at our HOA budget. Our HOA doesn’t do much anymore. I am the current HOA president and I went on a warpath to reduce the things the HOA had control over. It’s a small HOA to begin with, and all that’s left for the HOA to do is to maintain 1 private road that has 5 houses on it, a short section of fence, and a couple of signs. But just to stay in compliance with law, we have to spend:

- $7k per year on a management company to collect dues, send correspondence, and hire out the professional services
- $2300 per year on insurance, including a $400 premium to cover “employee dishonestly” (a fidelity bond to cover if I or the other board members somehow cheat I guess).
- $1300 per year for a CPA to file our taxes
- $800 every 3 years to hire a company to come out and do an on-site reserve study (look at the things that the HOA is responsible for and make sure the HOA is collecting enough money to pay for it), along with cheaper updates (couple hundred dollars, doesn’t include an on-site assessment) in the years in between


Those are required for legal compliance, but we also have to withhold money for:
- $300 per year for postage and other administrative expenses
- a small amount each month allocated for legal and for contingencies
- all of the money specified in the reserve studies to meet those financial obligations


It all adds up so we end up still paying $60/month in dues just to keep the machine running because we have no other option. It sucks.