Note from the Chairman
Dear Owners,
The following is a short update on the Service Standards and our Budget.
Service Standards – 2015
Since our last Newsletter in October, we have completed the QDM Standards Survey for the 4th Quarter with everything coming up to the expected standard.
The quarterly Standards Surveys will continue into 2016 as we and GSA both agree that they are an incentive to maintain a good standard. The pool and gardening teams are a very good example of this in QDM.
QDM Budget – 2016
We have also commenced our discussions with the GSA Management and Accountant with respect to the 2016 QDM Budget where we can anticipate a very small increase in the Budget from 2015, reflecting the low rate of inflation in Portugal during 2015.
The 2016 Budget will as far as possible reflect the Actual costs (based on the experiences from 2015) bearing in mind that some elements will always to a degree be variable (for example, water and electricity, and general maintenance).
Pending the final review of the 2015 Actuals (in February), we expect the Community & Urbanisation (C&U) charges for the 2- and 3-bedroomed townhouses to be unchanged from 2015 and the 2016 requests for payments will reflect this. This means that they will have been unchanged since 2014.
All costs during 2016 will continue to be subject to a tracking mechanism within GSA and available to the OA at our quarterly meetings.
In December 2014, we agreed with GSA that any surplus contributed by the payers would not be used to cover the non-payers; as a result, the surplus from 2015 will cover the manpower costs associated with painting the speed bumps and refurbishing (and implementing additional) wooden railings down to the pool.
Annual General Meeting
The date for the 2016 AGM will be announced in January. The Articles of Association require that elections for the OA Committee are undertaken every three years. A new election falls due in 2016. Full details will be announced in due course but your Committee needs new members in order to grow and continue to represent our interests. Please consider offering your services in whatever capacity you feel appropriate.
We will provide further updates in the New Year and a more detailed Report following the 2016 AGM.
Please feel free to use the Comment section 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