$58.08 per lot, per year. Just .16 cents a day for us to say we own lakefront property. When you break it down this way it really is a small price to pay. We bought our little cabin in 2004 when the yearly dues were a mere $44 per year! In the scheme of things, a $14.08 increase in 13 years really is pretty unbelievable. We are currently only 4 months into our 2017 fiscal year and we have made some fantastic updates and improvements to our lakefront area. We depend on these annual dues to be paid by (or before) the due date on the invoice. These monies are what is used to pay for insurance, lawn and beach care, as well as spraying for poison ivy, porta potty rental, electricity and maintaining the water pump, pier installation/removal and any and all other lakefront maintenance that may occur. Having said that, when dues are not received by the due date stated on the invoice, a “reminder” letter is sent out and then followed by a lien being placed on those properties. With this process we have now incurred extra unnecessary costs to our association that come out of those funds ( i.e. office supplies, stamps, etc. not to mention the tedious task involved in this process) that really should be going to lakefront needs. Since therein process was implemented years ago, the total amount owed in liens has risen to $14,878.01…To date we currently have $8,414.16 in outstanding liens that we can collect on, many who have repeatedly over the years been “non payers”. The other $6,463.85 is money we basically lost out on due to properties selling and liens not being followed up on. Being a small sized community we obviously rely on this money for general upkeep and maintenance. The Board of Directors is committed to following through with collecting these outstanding dues so all Lakewood homeowners are in the clear. As we stated at our annual homeowners meeting in May, we are handing these homeowners names with liens associated to their properties, over to a collection agency. If you are not sure if you are one of those homeowners with a lien and an outstanding balance, you can check our website under the ‘member information’ tab. If you are on this list, now is the time to rectify this situation before it affects your credit rating. On a final note, mark your calendars because starting with 2018 annual dues our deadline (or date payment MUST be received by) to receive payment is to going to coincide with the FISCAL YEAR…..in other words we MUST receive your payment on or before MARCH 31st (no exceptions).
