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Originally Posted by Gilligan
What constitutes COMMON facilities? They include the buildings and grounds, roads, bath houses, beaches, playgrounds, parking areas (but not all the parking areas), water, electricity, the bulkheads and retaining walls.
Which boaters do you expect to use more of the common facilities? Those with the big cabin cruisers that live onboard much of the season on "A" dock or those with day boats or cuddys on "I" dock? Should each slip owner pay the same fee for use of the common facilities like electricity and water? Would it be more fair to have a fee structure more in line with the price of the slip or the size of the boat it will accommodate? I think so.
While not a big fan of the tax man he does have it right by taxing the bigger, more expensive slips more than the smaller slips. The MVYC has a one fee fits all philosophy for the slip owners. That is where I see inequity. Do the 20 foot open bow rider owners use as much of the common facilities as the owners of the 40 foot luxury cabin cruisers? It does not take a professor to figure that one out. The big boats probably have one or more TVs, VCRs DVDs (pay extra for a cable hook-up but the electricity is COMMON), electric ranges, microwave ovens, water heaters, heaters, air conditioning, hair dryers, blenders, and a host of other items. They generally have more guests more frequently. The 40 footers potentially are used much more often and as live-aboard boats than would be the smaller boats in the smaller slips. By their nature the big slips/boats use more of the common facilities.
The entire club pays for milfoil reduction treatments. It’s good for the club but do owners on "I" dock or "J" dock see any difference in their dock areas? Nope. They do not treat those areas because "I" and "J" docks are not in the MVYC channel. "I" and "J" slip owners rejoice at the thought of less milfoil around the club but they don’t get that “common” benefit at their slips. How about dredging? Same thing I’m told. Equal access to common club facilities? It just doesn’t fit anywhere here.
I am generalizing and using the extremes of "A" versus "I" dock. I understand that all members need to support the club with fees and an occasional assessment. The point is that the smaller slip owners pay a larger share of maintaining common facilities that get used more by the owners of the larger boats.
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Some valid points without reading your deed; however, the real bottom-line remains the same, what does your deed state? GYC, for example lists a parking space as that which is owned. Although the parking spaces are of equal size, the town assesses the assigned dock, not the equal sized parking space that one owns.
Do you really own a dock, or perhaps a parking space of equal size or perhaps an equal share of the property? This is usually the "equality" test for assessments. You are an equal owner of something listed on your deed and share an equal proportion of any assessments, be they to your benefit or not. Joys of "condo" life.
You did reference the bulkheads and retaining walls as "common" and the assessment is for a new wall on A Dock, according to various posts. Not much room for debate.
The board needs to assess the users of extra utilities an additional fee to cover their extra usage, similar to winterizing, not everyone pays the same fee. It's usually a flat fee plus extra for the extra items.
