THE MONEY TREE OF CENTURY VILLAGE

     I know that my grandchildren believe that we have a money tree in the back of the building (though I have never found it!), but what is really the big news is that evidently we, at CVWPB, also have a money tree, evidently quite a large one. Not sure where it is but just look at the latest budget sheets that Howie O'Brien is distributing and you, too, will go a-huntin' with me.
     I, too, am looking for answers and explanations for a budget that resembles no other budget that I have ever come across, either in my personal or business or social life. Here are some questions looking for answers:
     What are the funds opening amounts?
     How many accounts are there in reality?
     How much money is in each account?
     What bank holds them?
     What is the interest rate?
     What are the names of the accounts?
     Are there any CD's?
     What is the configuration and separation figures for the operating funds versus the reserve and dedicated funds?
     Where in the name of all that's holy did you EVER come up with some of these figures?

     Let's take one category for an example: ROADWAY.
     At the last DA the figures on the handout stated, to the best of memory, that we needed $5,640,000 to redo the job, properly or not, it did not go into detail. We supposedly had on hand somewhat over $600,000. and the roads would be good for approximately 20 years (not really!).
     Now we have a new budget which does not bother to give us the starting figures and suddenly we have two categories - one is for roadway sealing and the other for paving. The figures then state that we will be putting away almost $300,000
all told in these categories in the 2015 budget.
     But wait - there's more. There is another budget paper that states that we will now need $15,000,000 within 15 years for a proper job on the roadway, including milling and doing the job in phases, and we are going to be putting away $1,000,000 a year for this.    
     Read that paragraph again and then hope you stop coughing pretty soon. So, suddenly we get this jump in figures from a total of close to  $6,000,000 for the roads (and I am adding on for increases over the years) and suddenly it more than doubles and just look at that amount that we are supposed to be putting away. During the good years before we did that lousy job, we were saving about a half million a year and had almost reached the figure we needed, when along came the Poohbah and the Snake and off went all our money, right down a financial sinkhole.
     So, what is the truth. I think only G-d above can figure this one out! And one more question - When suddenly the magical mystical money tree blooms and gives us first one batch of money and then another, all in the neighborhood of over $600,000, ah, just exactly where is this coming from. The roots of that tree are just about blown out. Methinks that these funds are coming from shoving all into one huge general fund, cancelling out other funds, reserve and dedicated and thus here we are, about to undergo another financial crisis and wow! all under the same aegis as before , along with the added persona of a new Treasurer.
     Calling all accountants. Calling all bookkeepers. Calling on all people with some modicum of common sense. VOTE NO NO NO ON THE BUDGET THIS COMING ASSEMBLY. IT NEEDS RE EXAMINATION. IT NEEDS EXPLANATION. IT NEEDS TO HAVE THE $2 WI FI FEE TAKEN OUT. IT NEEDS PROPER VALIDATION AND APPROVAL BY INFORMED DELEGATES. IT NEEDS WORK - SO VOTE IT DOWN. VOTE IT DOWN.