Pecanwood Corruption Watch Response to Residents on the SGM - Do Not Pay the Special Levy

Picture: Joshua Hoehne (Unsplash)

It was really heartening to hear that the Pecanwood Community rallied together and attended the General Meeting of the Pecanwood Homeowners Association NPC yesterday. There was an unprecedented display of strength & unity at the meeting. The people have spoken loud and clear and gave a very unified message to the Pecanwood Board and management as follows:

1. Homeowners do not want to, and will not pay for anything that does not belong to the HOA (and which is contrary to the provisions of the MOI) i.e, infrastructure & facilities that belong to Country Heights, like the Golf and Boat Club. The recent Projects Spreadsheet distributed by the HOA after the Town Hall Meeting of the 2nd June includes items that DO NOT fall under the business of the PHOA and hence the list met with fierce opposition from residents.

2. It was irregular for the PHOA to start invoicing for the special levies before voting on the three items which they identified as CAPEX amounts, 2 of which was voted NO to yesterday.

3. There was no evidence of the criteria followed in determining which were the Capital Expenditure Projects. For example the proposed facial recognition system installation, which is by accounting standards a Capital Expenditure Item, was excluded from the list of items for voting.

4. The overwhelming stance was clear that the PHOA Board MUST revisit the list of proposed projects to something that is extremely necessary and affordable for Homeowners. The criteria for this needs to be openly visible.

5. There also needs to be a deep dive by the HOA Board into the existing financials & operations resulting in optimization of costs, before any call for special levies and steep increases to the monthly levy.

6. The Chairman continuously referred to the Town Hall Meeting of the 2nd of June as being a consultative and ‘rubber stamping’ meeting for the Projects to go ahead. In actual fact the Meeting of the 2nd June was purely an information session and does not carry any weight in terms of voting processes. Furthermore, people complained that that meeting was held on a weekday evening at 18h00, without virtual access, which was inconvenient and unfair to all homeowners.

7. Various residents queried the implementation of the Special Levy by the Board who are sheltering behind the unlimited powers granted them in the MOI to increase levies and implement special levies to unprecedented levels without due consultation with residents.

The expectation from homeowners is clear that the PHOA Board is required to revisit the plan, address the above irregularities, and suspend collection of any further special levies until such time that a new plan is formulated and made visible to homeowners for approval.

WE THEREFORE URGE ALL RESIDENTS TO NOT PAY THE SPECIAL LEVIES IN THE INTERIM. THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!

© Pecanwood Corruption Watch