As published in The View, February 2023:
President
The State of Our Union
Now that it’s 2023, as your Board President I wish to report to you that the state of our community’s union is strong. Sun City Shadow Hills is an affordable and great place in which to own, reside, and vacation. Let us count the ways.
Our facilities are being kept in tip-top shape.
Our Lifestyle events are many and varied (and usually sell out quickly).
Our management is working hard to increase communication with all owners about everything that is going on.
Our hard-working homeowner volunteer Advisory Committees are staffed and staying on top of everything necessary to run the small city that Sun City Shadow Hills is. These committees regularly submit suggestions to the Board to assist with operations and request Board action where necessary. We all should keep in mind that SCSHCA is the second largest HOA in the Coachella Valley.
Shadows Restaurant and our other food service amenities are staffed, maintain regularly published schedules, and have “cooked up” new menus. Offerings have improved greatly, and resident satisfaction is increasing.
Our clubs offer lots of special and regular events. These are fun and educational, and they help to build community spirit. If you have not found something you enjoy doing within our gates or on organized outings, then you are missing out on some great activities. All club schedules and upcoming events are published monthly in our View magazine, on our website (www.scshca.com), and in the weekly e-blasts.
Troon has our golf courses in the best shape they have been in a long time, and our Tennis and Pickleball Clubs are utilizing our amenities to capacity. Our facilities workers are doing their best to maintain our sports and common areas while keeping activity interruptions to a minimum.
After much hard work over the summer, including three open Board budget meetings and an exceptional amount of effort by our Financial Advisory Committee volunteers, even in these very challenging economic and inflationary times, the Board majority endorsed a 2023 budget that increases assessments by 9% ($28 per month).
By now, barely into this new year, most homeowners have experienced firsthand the inflationary pressures for utilities, insurance premiums, and higher prices for just about everything. Our HOA is not immune from such increases in keeping our common areas, clubhouses, and other facilities operating. Still, our HOA monthly assessment remains one of the lowest in the Coachella Valley ($337 per month, which includes bulk internet), particularly when compared to other HOAs with similar features and amenities.
Additionally, our operating account is at an acceptable level. We have a Capital Improvement (rainy day) Fund which will probably protect us from any surprise assessments related to the flood control project that soon will be tunneling under Jefferson Street. Also, our reserves for maintaining our community into the foreseeable future are at a very high level. All these factors contribute to the increase in our property values.
Any homeowners who may have had doubts about the flood control project and the advisability of planning to protect our properties from the “hundred-year flood” might want to consider what has been occurring in many other parts of California this winter. As they say, “There, but for the grace of God, go we.” Semper Paratus (“always ready”) is usually a wise approach.
So let us celebrate our good judgement when we chose to own, reside, and vacation in our “place in the sun.” In a future article, I hope to be able to identify some of our owners who have gone, or who are going, the extra mile to improve our lifestyle and facilities without incurring any additional cost to the HOA. These owners deserve recognition and our thanks. We are fortunate to have many unsung and generous “super residents” in our community.
Contact the author at john.macdonnell@scshca.com.