I posted this below and decided to repost it under a seperate heading to generate more reading and hopefully assist more people...

Budgeting for Economic Stability

I have not been on in a while and it is good to see some old/familiar people…

In light of some post that I am reading and recent conditions, I decided to post the following to assist some Boards with creating (modifying) their 09 budget

It is important for management when creating the budget to consider the posterity of the building.
Budgeting as most US households today, and as our government does by pushing financial responsibility into the future is irresponsible. We do not and should not EVER borrow to pay bills in our personal or business lives. (I have 2 buildings going debt/mortgage free this year!)

When creating a budget, all anticipated annual expenses are taken into account, based on the current years spending, announced water/utility increases, Taxes (future taxes can be obtained from the DOF website), regular expenses, anticipated salaries, and other expected expenses.

Additionally, the condition of the building and anticipated physical maintenance costs are important to factor in; most people become modest here, but do not be. It is a good idea to obtain an engineer’s condition report and a five year capital plan from a good engineer to assist in pinpointing this number. Forget the fact that fuel dropped, leave the number alone!

Once you have a solid list and sum of anticipated expenses, then calculate what your required income (maintenance) should be per share and add 5-7%. This should be your new maintenance

Hope this helps someone...

~AR