July 2010 Vol. 8, No. 7
The July 2010 issue of New England Condominium magazine focuses on Community Budgets & Finance.
In this issue, you can read about overlooked savings, understanding your condos finances, preventing and detecting fraud and "other-miniums".
Visit our archives to see other articles that were published in 2010.
News Briefs
- 07.14.10 Carnegie Tower Development Company, Inc. has filed suit against the Town of Portsmouth, RI, over its tax assessment of the Tower, claiming that the value should be $40 million less than what the town has set. [EastBayRI.com]
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A coalition of housing industry groups joined the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today in announcing plans to file a lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for removing the "opt-out" provision from its Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. [NAHB.org]
- 07.09.10 After years of wrangling the town of Marblehead, MA, appears ready to approve an agreement that will require National Lead to clean up the lead-contaminated former Chadwick Lead Mills property on Lafayette Street, on the Marblehead-Salem line. [Itemlive.com]
- 07.02.10 Thirteen Harvard and MIT alumni won a lawsuit against a Chicago-based developer who the court said broke a promise to create a condominium community in Cambridge. [Boston Herald]
- 07.01.10 Lodging at Lighthouse Condominiums in Wells, Maine, may become a thing of the past if property owners don't comply with the town's site plan ordinance. [Seacoast Online]
- 05.13.10 Tighter lending standards are making it tougher for condo developers to obtain critical approvals that enable buyers to take out mortgages. [Patriot Ledger]
Featured Articles
A Rash of Thefts
Given recent headlines, condo associations could be forgiven for thinking they need to put an armed guard and razor wire around the petty cash box. A wave of fraud appears to be hitting condominiums from New England to Florida and beyond. Read More
Understanding Your Condo's Finances
Management of a condominium community is much like democratic government in a small town or village. The budget process is remarkably similar, whether it’s fees or taxes being collected, and, as in local government, financial management is a transparent system based on “GAAP” (generally accepted accounting principles). Read More
Overlooked Savings
As annual and quarterly budgets come up for review, associations are looking to cut additional costs anywhere and everywhere they can. But how much more “fat” can be trimmed from budgets? Surprisingly, there are a few unsung cost saving measures that associations may have overlooked – and with some innovative and cooperative changes, condominiums may still be able to pull some extra cost savings from their financial hats. Read More
