My HOA may have to increase fees by $150 for 20 years to repair an important system – we need it to live, but I can’t afford it
A WOMAN is racing against the clock to increase her income and stock up on water as the homeowners association warns she may have to increase fees for urgent repairs.
Riyon Harding of Tucson, Arizona, has lived in the Viewpointe neighborhood for three years.
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The residents of the neighborhood suffer from water shortages due to leaks in the sanitation infrastructure.
The neighborhood uses a private water system and repairs have increased in recent years and could now cost millions.
Harding and other residents are used to running out of water, so they now stockpile water in buckets.
“Sometimes it [stops] up to three times a month,” Harding said Kgun9.
“I usually grab the dog and go and stay with a friend until the coast clears,” she said.
HOA Board President Mark Flint spoke to the news outlet about the costly infrastructure that has increasingly needed repairs over the past decade.
Flint told the news outlet: “Over the last 10 years we’ve seen a pretty steady increase [of repairs].”
He added that they lost over 1.4 million gallons of water due to the leaks in the first quarter of this year.
Added to this loss is the huge hole burned in the HOA’s pockets.
Repairs have cost the HOA $750,000 over the last 11 years, including $500,000 in the last five years alone.
After an investigation by an engineering team, it appears that a replacement will continue to cost money.
According to Flint, the team said installing a new system would cost $3 million.
Riley Engineering concluded that the system was built incorrectly in the 1970s because it was built in rocky terrain, which resulted in cracks in the PVC pipes.
As a result, the HOA will likely have to increase its fees to cover the costs, although Flint said he wouldn’t do that “unless it’s the absolute last resort and there’s no other option.”
Flint says the multimillion-dollar replacement is too costly and the current option is to increase HOA fees by $150 per month to cover a 20-year commercial loan.
However, Harding, who is already living on her savings, said she can’t afford it, adding, “It keeps me up at night because I have to move because I can’t afford the HOA fees and I can’t afford it either.” can afford to live here.
Flint and other neighbors have been offered support from Arizona State Senator Priya Sundareshan, who hopes to secure a federal grant for the neighborhood through the Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority.
Additionally, it is pushing for laws that would regulate the construction of water infrastructure and force contractors to ensure quality.
Harding noted that this option was the best, saying, “I wouldn’t feel like I was racing against a clock and vying for my income before the huge assessment comes.”
“As we build in Arizona, we know that this development will ensure a secure water supply and there really should be no exceptions. I think we need to provide security to our residents everywhere,” Sundareshan told the news agency.
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