Sunland Division 17 will hold its Annual Member Meeting on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. In support of this meeting, a member packet has been mailed to all unit owners, containing the following documents:
- Page 1: 2024 Annual Meeting President’s Letter
- Page 2: Sunland Division 17 Annual Meeting Documents for 2024
- Page 3: 2024 Sunland Division 17 Annual Membership Meeting Agenda
- Page 4: 2024 Candidates for Division 17 Board; What is the difference between a financial records review and a financial audit?
- Page 5: Division 17 Projected Budget and Annual Assessment Increase
- Page 6: 2025 Budget
- Page 7: Amendment 4 of Sunland Division 17 Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions
- Page 8: Part A: 2024 Absentee Attendance for Quorum at Annual Meeting; Part B: 2024 Absentee Voter Ballot (printed on yellow)
- Page 9: 2024 Sunland Division 17 Proxy Designation Form (printed on yellow)
Note: there is a typo on Page 8, the Ballot. It gives an incorrect date for the annual meeting. As stated in several other places in the packet, the annual meeting will be on Wednesday, September 11, 2024.
Please mail your ballot and quorum form as soon as possible, and no later than August 31, 2024. Even if you plan on attending the meeting in person, mail-in ballots help ensure we meet quorum and membership voting levels for board member elections, budget approval, and the Amendment of the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions.
Division 17 Projected 2025 Budget & Annual Assessment Increase
Each year the Sunland Division 17 Board must evaluate our HOA’s financial status and develop a budget and funding plan for the expenses required to maintain our community near and long-term. This has been challenging as the last several years have seen increased pricing for repairs, services, and supplies.
- Insurance expense – increased this year by 10% and the industry indicates it will be an even greater increase in 2025.
- Maintenance expenses increased due to aging and roof leaks around flashing. The Board has approved some sample inspections to assess older roofs and need for preventive maintenance.
- Plant replacement for winter damage throughout Division 17.
- Continued need to grow Reserves – currently at 32% funded while Industry recommends 80% funding.
For 2025, the Board recommends a $46 monthly increase in Division 17’s Annual Assessment beginning in January 2025, bringing the total 2025 Assessment per unit to $4,742 or $1,186 quarterly.
Please review the 2025 budget summary shown in this link. Additional information, including the Reserve Study results, can be found on the Division 17 website at:
https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/financial-budget-reports/
The Division 17 Board members take their duties seriously and truly believe an increase is unavoidable if our community is to maintain its property and value. While our assessments have been modest, they are less than 1% of the current value of our homes. As resident owners in this community, we are well aware of increases hitting our budgets in all areas of our lives. The Board is committed to open communication and will gladly provide the facts and numbers used for this decision and attempt to directly and honestly answer any questions owners may have.
Gerald Hatler, Mark Anderson, Lawrence Charters, Betty Gwaltney, and Warren Husman
Amendment 4 of SunLand Division 17 Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions
The enclosed ballot includes a measure amending the Sunland Division 17 Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) through a complete restatement of the document. Over the past year your Board, with input from legal counsel and a small working group, studied the CC&Rs, looking for ways they could be streamlined. The goal was to update and clarify the language without changing the rights and obligations of owners and the association. The amended CC&Rs require Owner approval before adoption.
The current CC&Rs have references to setting up the association and to the original developer, which are no longer required, and several grammatical and numbering errors. Even the name of the Association is listed incorrectly. These outdated references and typos make the CC&Rs difficult to read and understand.
The current CC&Rs come to 27 pages and 12,292 words. The draft amendment comes to just slightly more than 20 pages and 10,030 words.
What has been changed
- All references to the developer were removed.
- Updated to conform to Washington State law as of 2024.
- A new section on Reserve Studies was added (required by law; content currently included in Bylaws).
- References to things to be done at some future date (but completed years ago) were removed.
- Wherever possible, the language was revised to make it more readable.
Why this is important
The Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions are essentially an extension of your deed. They outline the obligations of the Sunland Division 17 Owners Association to the individual owners, and the obligations of the individual owners to the Association. They establish the foundation that allows the Association to purchase insurance for the Association as a whole, and help the Association ensure that standards are met for architectural design, landscaping, and maintenance, and other items that help protect your investment and make Sunland North a pleasant community.
What you need to do
Use the enclosed ballot to vote on the amended CC&Rs. Because of length, a copy of the amended CC&Rs is not included. You can read them here:
Amendment 4 of Sunland Division 17 Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions
or you can download a PDF version from a link at the top of that page.
Our current CC&Rs are here:
Sunland Division 17 Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions
Note: the proposed restatement of the CC&Rs is numbered differently, as some sections were removed entirely, some were numbered incorrectly, and the current CC&Rs contain references to sections that do not exist, etc. For example, some definitions at the start were removed as the terms were never used in the document, and therefore weren’t necessary. All mentions of the developer and construction were removed. Some sections, such as the description of Common Areas, were scattered in different parts, and were consolidated in the amendment. Several hundred changes were made, but none affected the rights or obligations of owners or the Association.