Note from the Chairman
Dear Owners,
Since our last Newsletter in October, we have continued our meetings with the Resort Director, Dr. Daniel Gama; culminating last week in the finalisation of the 2015 Budget for QDM.
Service Standards – 2014
GSA have now completed the required Maintenance Plan for our infrastructure – the domestic water pumps, the irrigation system and the pool. This means that there are no outstanding items on the standards check-list and, therefore, no discount applicable to the 4th Quarter 2014 C&U charges.
The quarterly surveys will continue into 2015, together with the potential percentage reductions on the C&U charges; noting that the reductions are not applicable to utilities – water and electricity. One difference for 2015 will be that the percentage reduction will only be applied if 80% of the previous quarter’s C&U are paid.
Community & Urbanisation (C&U) Charges for 2015
We have completed the discussions with GSA with respect to the budget for 2015. GSA have provided us with a breakdown of costs for 2015 across Utilities, Common Areas, Pool Maintenance, Housekeeping, General Maintenance, Insurance, Administration & Reception, Gardens Maintenance and Security.
At the 2012 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Owners Association, the Owners decided “that security patrols should be suspended until such time as a satisfactory monitoring system is in place at a cost acceptable to the Owners. Re-introduction would be subject to a further vote once full details and costs have been agreed”.
For 2013 and 2014, we were provided with security patrols as part of the very acceptable GSA package deal, with no specifically identifiable cost apportioned to security.
For 2015, the cost of security has now been specifically identified. If we included this cost in our 2015 budget, this would have represented a 17% increase on the C&U charges compared to 2014 and 2013; representing approximately €240 for a 2-bedroomed townhouse and €340 for a 3-bedroomed townhouse.
Given the decision from 2012, we have proposed to maintain the C&U charges for the 2- and 3-bedroomed townhouses at the same level as for 2014; i.e., €1416 for the 2-bedroomed and €2016 for the 3-bedroomed.
As a consequence, the current security patrols will be suspended at QDM and your Committee, over the next few months, will assess a number of options and costs, especially in the light of the burglaries in broad daylight at Golf Village Houses and QDM. At the next AGM, we will present Motions for the Owners’ consideration.
For the Villas (1, 2 and 3) and QDM 41 (all of whom have pools) and with the breakdown of costs now available, we can specifically identify those costs directly associated with the pool, i.e., Pool Maintenance and Housekeeping (the cleaning of the pool surrounds, kitchen and toilets). The C&U charges for these houses, taking away the pool-related elements, are €1640, representing a 19% reduction on the charge for a 3-bedroomed townhouse.
All costs during 2015 will be subject to a tracking mechanism within GSA and available to the OA at our quarterly meetings. This is very important given that there is a mix of fixed and variable costs.
GSA “Liquidation” Process
Since our last Newsletter, there has been no further progress towards selling off the company. The Court has not yet formalised the “liquidation” process but this may be achieved in the February/March timeframe.
We will continue to provide you with updates in the New Year.
Please feel free to use the Comment facility below this Newsletter. We welcome your comments.
In the meantime, we wish you all and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Best regards and Seasons Greetings
David Murphy
Chairman, Executive Committee
23 December, 2014