Assessments

HOA fees are due May 1, 2024

We - the volunteer HOA board composed of your neighbors - have been getting questions about the increased fee this year and so we wanted to clear it up for the homeowners who were not able to make the meeting back in December.

The Tall Timber HOA fees have been set at $100 since 1990. We have 191 homes so our total budget yearly is $19,100. While that amount of money was able to cover the costs for 30+ years, it does not anymore. Honestly, we cannot name a single thing that costs the same 34 years ago as it does today!

Since the pandemic, all of the costs related to running the HOA (like almost everything else) have risen greatly. For example, the landscaping costs for the common areas are now $16,000 and last year's hazardous tree removal ended up costing $18,000 (nearly the entire annual budget)! Hazardous tree removal has had an enormous impact on our budget over the last several years. Due to wet weather, high winds, and ages of the trees, we foresee this to be the trend going forward. In an attempt to keep costs down, the Board has put in the time and effort to get multiple quotations for landscaping and tree removal. The companies we currently use are by far the most cost effective we could find.

Landscaping and tree removal alone cost well over the $19,100 we have. Plus, the other costs that the HOA must cover annually are:

Legal fees (including taxes)
Insurance
Collection fees
Community events
Website fees
Bank charges & accounting fees
Postage & printing

As you can imagine, keeping the HOA dues low means we have a smaller pool of money to pay for our community's needs. This has had a negative impact over time, greatly restricting what our volunteer HOA Board can do for our community.

After running the numbers so many different ways, the Board saw it necessary to charge the full amount as outlined in the 1988 Tall Timbers bylaws ($120 + inflation).

In line with our bylaws, the Board brought this up to the homeowners in attendance at the December 2023 HOA Meeting (see the presentation here and read the minutes here). There was a lengthy explanation and we all collaboratively scrutinized ways to trim down our budget. Dan Schmitt, Brookland District Supervisor, personally commended us for being able to stretch our tiny dues so far and said that most HOA fees are so much, much higher in the area.

After this discussion and brainstorming session, some homeowners were asking “Why can't we just increase the budget to $200/year and not stress about this anymore?”

The answer is, we are not allowed to.

If you're worried that this type of increase will happen again and again, it won't.

Our bylaws strictly say they can only be increased by 3% yearly without at least a 2/3rds majority of the 191 homes (all homeowners on the mortgage signing off, not just one homeowner per house) agreeing to something else. As you can imagine, that's a lofty feat that will take an immense amount of effort and almost everyone in the community would have to agree on it. So no other changes will be made anytime soon.

Note: If the fees followed the structure outlines in the bylaws, the $100 fee in 1990 would now per $273.19 per house, so $125 is a deal!

Instead, our volunteer HOA Board is creatively looking for other ways to cover the inevitable rising community costs. Here’s what we’ve come up with:

We have written to our local government asking for a one-time beautification grant.
We are beginning to look for sponsors for $150, $300, or $500 per year who see value in getting the attention of our whole neighborhood. So if you own (or know someone who owns) a business who may be interested in advertising - email the board at talltimbersboard@yahoo.com.

Rest assured, we are trying to make everything work within the reinstated original fee structure outlined in our bylaws.

Again, the $125 HOA fees are due May 1, 2024. You can pay in these few ways:

Checks can be made out to “Tall Timbers Association” and add your address to the “Notes” line. Mail it to P.O. Box 1144, Glen Allen, VA 23060
Venmo @TALLTIMBERSASSOCIATION-HOA (last 4 digits of the phone number for confirmation: 2255). Please make sure to include your address in the "What's this for?" section. (Note that the HOA will NEVER request payments via Venmo.)

To avoid property liens/collections, if you are delinquent with your 2023 dues (in some cases, 2022, 2021, 2020, etc), please include past due amounts with your 2024 payment.

Dues are not optional and the HOA Board has a duty to seek collection.

I hope this addresses any concerns you may have.

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Lastly, please keep in mind that the members of the HOA are all homeowners who have volunteered their energy and time (for free) to make this community work so please be kind.