President’s Follow Up

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As we move closer to our Annual Meeting next week, I wanted to take a moment to correct and clarify a few issues that will be affecting our bylaws going into the next season.

The change in membership payment due date from April 1st to March 1st was suggested as it would benefit the general membership as such:

  • It gives us additional time to get the 750 paid memberships completed between March 1st and the opening weekend, instead of April 1st and opening weekend.
  • Ultimately, it closes the waiting period from May 15th to April 1st, which gives 45 additional days to start contacting perspective members on April 1st, instead of May 15th.
  • It will also cut down on payroll costs in follow-ups made by our office manager during these months to both non-responsive members, as well as those on the waitlist.
  • Ultimately it will reduce the risk that we don’t fully sell all 750 memberships to fill the budget on the revenue side.

While I understand the argument is that only a minority of the membership is affected, it would certainly ease the process every year.

The Late payment penalty- In seeking legal advisement, it has come to our attention that MD Law states as outlined that the amount of the late fee may be up to $5 per month, or up to 10% per month of the payment amount that is past due, whichever is greater. That said, we are going to tweak the proposed by-law language to conform with Maryland contract law.  The first month will be 10% and the second month will also be 10% capping at total of a 20% late fee.

And lastly (not a By Law change, but to provide transparency). Our new Governor as part of his first year in office decided to speed up the increase of Minimum Wage to $15 by moving up the timeline (passed in July of 2023).  So effective January 1, 2024, the State of Maryland jumps from $13.25 per hour to $15 per hour.   This changes our budget needs as most of our employees are hourly employees. If we add an additional $1 per hour to all hourly employees’ pay rates, we have concluded that we would need to increase our budget by $13,500 for the salaries and benefits line.  The difference will be deducted by reducing Capital Improvements line item down to $29,415 for the 2024 year.  We still have excesses from the rainy-day fund to help with pool repair and other cap improvements that will be needed.

These changes will be discussed in further detail at the Annual Meeting 11/9, but we wanted to make sure there was a clear understanding prior to avoid any misunderstanding.

Thank you and I hope to see you in a few weeks at our meeting.

Heather Rockhill, President
The Board of Directors