FAQ

The dues pay for lawn maintenance, common area sidewalk repairs, playground upkeep, light poles, tree removal, HOA insurance, basketball court maintenance, Olathe Trails entrance signs, community activities, and general administrative costs needed to properly run the HOA.

• One of the largest expenses is all the contract work (including lawn care, tree removal, and doggy stations) that the HOA is responsible for doing. There are over 9 acres of common areas that need to be maintained and mowed and our neighborhood is filled with mature trees. Though these trees are beautiful, they require upkeep and trimming which adds up – especially after storms. These expenses are typically around $45,000 annually but can vary based on needs.
• There are several neighborhood parks throughout the neighborhood and the dues go to playground upkeep, such as gravel. Playground equipment is also replaced or repaired on an as needed basis. The basketball court is another expense for the HOA. The concrete base was replaced a year ago and it cost around $6,000 to tear out and replace. The backboard and net also need to be replaced as needed.
• We offer lit pathways throughout our 9 acres of common areas, but light poles and pole maintenance are an additional expense for the HOA. Each pole is over $1000 a piece and several have had to be replaced due to storms or damage. Replacement bulbs are close to $100 and many have had to be replaced due to normal wear and tear, as well as a few that had been damaged. The average monthly electric bill for the lights is between $200 – 250.
• Community activities such as the annual Easter Egg Hunt, swim party, and BBQ party take up a small portion of the dues. These are things that build camaraderie in the neighborhood and homeowners are encouraged to invite people to these types of events. The Easter Egg Hunt normally gets good turnout and if you don’t have small children at home anymore, you are more than welcome to bring nieces/nephews or grandkids to the event. The more the merrier!
• Administrative costs for running the HOA include expenses such as lien filings, stamps, envelopes, and a storage unit. Before transitioning to email statements, the HOA was spending over $400 a quarter to send physical statements, which amounted to over $1,600 a year! We have recently added a website to better serve our homeowners and there is a cost to owning the domain name and building the site.
• A detailed statement comes out at the end of the year that has these expenses noted. You can find 2017’s annual statement here.

The dues are used in a variety of ways to help improve our homeowner’s neighborhood experience. (For details, please look at the question above). The HOA board has been making efforts to minimize costs for its members such as emails statements and evaluating competitive bids for contract work annually. Over the last 40 years, the dues have been raised minimally. The rise in dues have not been keeping up with the rise in inflation, but due to the careful management of the HOA board, all the necessary expenses have been able to be paid.

The rise in dues is also partly due to the large number of homeowners who don’t pay their dues. Unfortunately, the small minority does impact the large majority in a big way. The total dollar amount of delinquent dues (anywhere from one quarter to several years) is over $33,000. If everyone was paying their dues, there would be enough revenues to avoid increases in dues. Some of these late dues are recouped when homeowners sell – as the HOA places liens on late homeowners – but if there is a house foreclosure, those owed dues are lost revenue.

A detailed statement comes out at the end of the year. You can view 2017’s annual statement here.

The dues cover a lot of expenses and benefits for the homeowners (as referenced above). Annual expenses have been greater than the annual costs over the last five years due to the raising prices of services and contracts. However, because the HOA board has maintained a small surplus in the accounts, the HOA has never been in the negative. This surplus is for emergency usage for things such as storm damage or lack of due payments.

Most of the surplus funds have come from previous imminent domain payments from the City of Olathe.

When the HOA By-Laws were created, there were no provisions made for enforcing rules regarding paint colors or dilapidated homes. However, the city of Olathe has a way to report code violations and complaints. You can find access to the codes and possible violations to report here.

If members of the Olathe Trails neighborhood would like to alter the by-laws to allow the board to have the ability to fine and enforce such eyesores, there can be amendments made to the by-laws through a special vote of majority. Reference page 7 of the By-Laws here.