Pay HOA Dues

• You will quickly learn that the HOA has a limited budget of about $230,000 per year (for 2024) with about $150,000 of fixed, non-discretionary expenses, like:

  • Admin / Bookkeeping - $20k

  • Utilities (power, water, internet) - $20k

  • Lawn mowing & landscaping - $50k

  • Tree maintenance - $10k

  • Swimming pool operations - $55k

  • All of these costs are going up with inflation…

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• The HOA is bound by the original Deed Restrictions filed with Johnson County back in 1978 by the original Persimmon Hill developer, Bleakley Development Co.

 

• Deed Restrictions (DRs) are legally binding ordinances, filed with the county, unique to HOA homes, that go above and beyond what the city or county ordinances require. For example…

  • A City of Olathe ordinance requires that any fence installed in FRONT of a residence ‘shall not exceed 4 feet in overall height’.  

    • The HOA DR extends this ‘4 foot requirement’ to include ALL fences around a property.

    • However, the HOA DR only restricts a boundary fence to 4-foot.  A 'privacy structure' well inside the property boundary is not subject to the DR and would then fall back to the applicable city or county requirements. 

  • Another city ordinance prohibits the storing of trailers, inoperable vehicles, RVs and boats, for an extended time, on any city street.

    • The HOA DR extends this prohibition to driveways or being ‘visible from the street’.  

    • However, we do honor the ‘extended time’ clause and allow folks time to get their boats & RVs ready to go out for use or back into permanent storage.

  • ​The Board of Directors does NOT have discretion to grant exceptions to the Deed Restrictions.​

    • To not uniformly enforce a DR would open the HOA up to legal action by other DR-abiding homeowners. 

    • Prior Boards have taken homeowners, refusing to comply with DRs, to court and have won judgements against them.

    • There are some existing ‘deviations’ to certain DRs that pre-date the HOA’s formation that are grandfathered in.  These are primarily where an in-ground pool existed and insurance coverage dictated a fence height over 4 feet.

  • ​Changing the Deed Restrictions, like amending the Constitution, is deliberately difficult and requires a two-thirds majority of all homeowners to vote in the affirmative to ratify a change.

    • With 587 total households currently in the HOA, that would require 394 ‘yes’ votes or signatures to modify the DRs.

    • Only bona fide homeowners may sign a petition to change DRs.  

    • Renters would have to contact the homeowner and ask them to vote on their behalf, if the homeowner is in agreement.

    • To be enforceable, the newly amended DRs must be filed with the county.

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• The HOA Declaration establishes the Persimmon Hill First Homes Association with Johnson County and, among other things, establishes the annual assessment or 'dues' required from each household. 

  • The annual assessment for 2024 is $400 per household and is due on January 1 of each year and are considered late on Feb 1st. 

  • These 'dues' provide the entire annual HOA budget: 

    • 587 homes x $400 = $234,800.

  • Article VI of the HOA Declaration allows for increases to the annual assessment to be made at the Annual Meeting by "a majority vote of the members of the Association at a meeting duly called in the manner provided."
    
     

• The HOA Bylaws govern how the HOA is to be run, how the annual assessment is to be fixed and how the Board of Directors is to be chosen.

  • If deemed necessary, the Board may propose an increase to the Annual Assessment.  An increase to the assessment is governed by Article VI of the HOA Declaration (see above).

  • The "bylaws may be amended, altered, repealed or added to at any regular meeting of the members...by affirmative vote of a majority of the members entitled to vote." 

  • In 1995, section 7 of the Bylaws was amended to establish "a quorum" at the Annual Meeting as consisting only of "persons in attendance or by proxy."

  • This new definition of "a quorum" greatly reduced the number of votes required to conduct the two essential business items requiring a vote of HOA members:  1) the election of the Board of Directors and 2) increasing the annual assessment.

  • All other matters and decisions are the responsibility and at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors.

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• So as you can see, being a member of the Board of Directors has a lot of responsibilities and direct impact on the lives and wallets of the homeowners in Persimmon Hill.

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• And for Homeowners (members of the Association) as boring as it may sound, "having to attend the HOA Annual Meeting," it is vital for you to understand...

  • Who is representing you on the board;

  • How much are your Dues going to be next year;

  • Where is the money being spent;

  • What is being done with existing amenities;

  • What is being proposed for new amenities;

  • What changes might be coming to the HOA (amending bylaws).

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• Finally, we need your help!

  • Given 587 homes in the neighborhood, we have the potential of nearly 1000 members of the HOA.

  • The typical attendance at an annual meetings has been on the order of 30-60 people. 

  • Our last election for members of the Board of Directors had only 5 nominees submitted for the 5 Board Member slots.  The Board decided not to waste HOA funds on mailing out meaningless ballots and simply declared the new Board 'elected by default'.

  • Our last major HOA vote, on a dues increase in 2023, ballots were mailed out to all 587 households. We received back 181 total ballots cast, or 31% participation.  The measure was approved by only 9 votes, or 5%.