$0.37 per share, per month, which works out to a little less than $100 per month for my apartment.

Of course, it's not realistic to expect maintenance never to go up. But what some of us in the building question is such a large increase, particularly after the accountant's positively glowing report at the last annual shareholders' meeting.

I understand rising fuel costs, etc. Everyone I've talked to has had a maintenance increase this year. But the increase in my particular building was roughly twice that of other buildings in the neighborhood.

1 Get more involved in the management of your building by participating and joining a committee
2 Ask for explanations of changes or items on your financial statement from your managing agent.
Any increase or decrease should show in a comparison between the amounts in a column
3 Building's are almost as different as people. Most solutions end up as a compromise.
4 Don't forget you are an owner not a renter. What happens to the entire building effects you and your investment

is a rumor-mongering jerk.

Boards don't vote in maintenance increases to cover their asses (unless there's something hinky goin' on, which is very very rare, despite your neighbor's statement); they raise maintenance to cover things like 10% increases for water and electricity, 20% increases in insurance premiums, 20% tax increases, and sky's-the-limit for fuel oil. Please keep in mind that board members are shareholders, too, and have to pay the same increase everyone else does.

You're better off asking the super next time.

why dont you say something helpful? for one, it has been a mild winter. our fuel charges will not be much more than last year. our insurance went down with renegotiation. etc. no - we are suffering from mismanagement and a board that is not making every efforts to cut costs and is not being advised to do so. a good manager would give them bulet points wiht how to reduce costs. for one - you should challenge your water bill, etc.
are you so scared of change and being proacive that you must insult my neighbor?

Ok, something helpful: a coop is a business, so why not try a spreadsheet approach:

- Maintenance increase history, as many years as possible
- Assessment history, ditto
- Costs for everything major you can think of: that new elevator, the new carpet in the lobby, plate glass window fixed, storage cages installed, code violations cured.... those old annual reports you filed come in handy after all, and if you forgot to file them, the management company has copies.

Now ask questions like, What kind of major annual increases has/does/will your building face each year - gas, electricity, water, fuel oil, liability insurance, interest rates, taxes? Were there unexpected repairs like a sewer pipe break? What sources of income does the co-op have to offset those? Ask questions like that 'til you run out of questions. By then you'll have a better idea why most co-ops raise maintenance as a rule of thumb.

Not done yet: figure your share history. What did your shares cost when you bought them? How much would they fetch today, as determined by recent sales? Do any of the expenses you thought were "arbitrary" - like the new chandeliers - have an impact on your building's image and value to buyers? Hmmm, guess they mightn't've been "mismanagement" after all.

Looking receipt by receipt, anyone could probably discover "mismanagement" of some kind in any co-op, from the purchase of new mop heads ("what was wrong with the old ones?"), all the way up the continuum to outright fraud.

There are boards that are fumble-fingered and boards that are light-fingered, but I'd also wager there are boards that have a firm grasp of their fiduciary duty.

How about positive kudos for THEM?

Throwing around words like "mismanagement" is dangerous when you don't know what you're talking about. Accusations like that rocked our building awhile ago, and it took A LONG TIME for it to recuperate. And - looking closely into them - the charges were baseless.

All that turmoil for nothing, when shareholders could have just talked to the board openly and treated them with the respect VOLUNTEERS deserve for taking responsibility for EVERYONE'S investment.

As for "mild winters" - take a look at your fuel consumption stats. You'll find even mild winters suck up a LOT of oil, and prices are still in the "need oxygen" category.

Next time, run for the board and see for yourself how hard it is to balance so many egos, mouths and - ah, get outta here. I got things to do.

According to NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority), the number of heating degree days through Feburary 2, 2008 is up 6.5% from last year's pace. This year's colder winter is coupled with a 40.2% increase in residential heating oil prices according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administrations's latest pricing survey. Unless a particular coop has drastically reduced heat supplied or spent considerable money to invest in a more energy efficient heating system, then it's highly likely that coops' heating costs are up dramatically from year-ago levels.

Batch, what's with the crack about asking the super?

That "crack" was a compliment. This person WOULD have been better off asking the super, who (even if not privy to board discussions) often has a far better grasp of the state of the building's infrastructure, financial health, and the costs of repairs, supplies, etc.

Chill. I don't insult hard-working people who do the best they can, many times at far too low pay, far too long hours, and far too little respect.

If I say something, I say it plainly. Innuendo is for those who second-guess the doers.

I must have read it wrong, I am sorry about the response that I wrote.

Mike

we were able to avoid an increase by taking 100% of the tax abatement. in past years we took 50% or less.

if we did not do this we were faced with a 6% increase.