Colleton Skeptic

Lots of excitement following the Board's meeting on September 22. The headline news is that the "capital contribution" (also known as the "transfer fee" or "initiation fee" or "tax on selling homeowners") will increase to $90,000.  Let's go back to basics. There are four ways the Club can enhance its finances: (1) operate more efficiently (i.e., earn a profit from operations); (2) increase dues (either the annual operating and replacement reserve assessments) or a special assessment--like the recent $20,000 assessment for amenities; (3) increase the "capital contribution"; or (4) sell assets. Historically, Colleton River has financed itself by increasing dues faster than inflation  and by special assessments (nearly $50,000 per Owner since 2005). No sign of operating efficiencies and the Club has sold almost all of the Goodwin river and marsh lots. As you can see in the graph above, exceeding inflation year-after-year adds up to...

Yesterday, the Board sent out an invitation to participate in a survey ostensibly to help the Board prepare a new strategy. SPOILER ALERT: the Board is asking whether you want to pay more for a great club or pay less for a bad club. No meaningful choices are given and there is no hint of what exactly the Board plans to do--other than increase assessments and capital contributions. Perhaps they should identify the "top 10%" clubs they view as our role models. It would also be helpful if the Board provided a comparison of key data like assessments, number of members, number of golf rounds played, capital contributions/entry fees, whether people automatically become members when they buy property, whether they have marshals to monitor play, and the like. I think asking the Owners for input is a great idea. But I hate push polls. And anyone who's been paying attention understands that if there's one thing this Board hates, it's giving Owners a meaningful role in the d...