A reader, a
market analyst, wrote:
The golfing industry in the U.S. is in headlong
decline. To contemplate a multi-million dollar investment in such an industry
seems contrary to good sense. At the same time, to defer the development of
amenities that are in high demand [walking or bicycle trails] can only be
characterized as self-destructive, ignorant or arrogant - you choose.
Eastman is a forty-year old community, and it has a
major problem - an insufficient capital reserve given the infrastructure it is
responsible to maintain. Any potential investor in an Eastman property who does
even basic due diligence will likely realize this. For future property owners,
this means they face the likelihood of special assessments to fund required
infrastructure repairs. In other words, assessments are likely to grow at more
than the rate of inflation regardless of new building projects.
Disclosure: I am not an Eastman property owner but
have visited many times. My decision to buy has been put on hold until these
critical governance and financial issues are fully sorted.
In October
2008 Mr. Goldman wrote a letter to the community that accompanied a report from
the Long-Range Planning Committee called “A Plan for Our Future”. In his
letter, he stated in paragraph 2, “Because the South Cove building project
requires a significant amount of our resources, the Committee has kept major
new initiatives to a minimum in the first two years of this plan. The Finance
& Budget Committee has tested this Long Range Plan against its ten-year
financial planning model. It shows that the Capital Reserve Fund is currently
projected to not only fund the approved South Cove capital expenditures,
ongoing capital replacement projects AND all the projects included in this plan
(this Plan FY2010- FY2019 did not include
a major overhaul of the Center), but
to still retain a fund balance above the required minimum—without
additional borrowing or special assessments.
What has
happened?
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