(Feb. 16, 2017) The Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors discussed the following items during a budget meeting in the administration building on Feb. 10.
New auditor
The board voted unanimously to hire SC&H Group as Ocean Pines’ new auditing firm. The company is based in the unincorporated community of Sparks, Maryland.
Interim General Manager Brett Hill said the firm could start as soon as next week.
A vote to approve the motion was 6-0. One director, Slobodan Trendic, was not present because his wife had a medical emergency, according to Director Cheryl Jacobs.
Authorized signers
The board voted 6-0 to appoint President Tom Herrick, Finance Director Mary Bosack, Treasurer Pat Supik and Assistant Treasurer Gene Ringsdorf as authorized signers of association checks. Hill said the corporate resolution was necessary for legal and banking purposes.
He said he was not included in that list because of his interim role, adding that a separate resolution would be required to include the general manager when Ocean Pines hired someone to fill that position.
Credit debate
The directors considered allowing homeowners to pay annual assessments by credit card, but that was ultimately put off for discussion until next year, when work begins on the fiscal 2019 budget.
Currently, homeowners can only pay assessments by cash or check.
Hill said a 2.5 percent processing fee would be charged to the association, and the directors considered either absorbing that cost or charging a convenience fee for the opportunity to pay in-person or online by credit card. A convenience fee for the basic annual assessment of $921, for example, would have increased to about $945 with the proposed fee.
All of the directors present during the meeting appeared to be in favor of accepting credit payments, but ultimately decided it was too late in the budget process to make the change.
New auditor
The board voted unanimously to hire SC&H Group as Ocean Pines’ new auditing firm. The company is based in the unincorporated community of Sparks, Maryland.
Interim General Manager Brett Hill said the firm could start as soon as next week.
A vote to approve the motion was 6-0. One director, Slobodan Trendic, was not present because his wife had a medical emergency, according to Director Cheryl Jacobs.
Authorized signers
The board voted 6-0 to appoint President Tom Herrick, Finance Director Mary Bosack, Treasurer Pat Supik and Assistant Treasurer Gene Ringsdorf as authorized signers of association checks. Hill said the corporate resolution was necessary for legal and banking purposes.
He said he was not included in that list because of his interim role, adding that a separate resolution would be required to include the general manager when Ocean Pines hired someone to fill that position.
Credit debate
The directors considered allowing homeowners to pay annual assessments by credit card, but that was ultimately put off for discussion until next year, when work begins on the fiscal 2019 budget.
Currently, homeowners can only pay assessments by cash or check.
Hill said a 2.5 percent processing fee would be charged to the association, and the directors considered either absorbing that cost or charging a convenience fee for the opportunity to pay in-person or online by credit card. A convenience fee for the basic annual assessment of $921, for example, would have increased to about $945 with the proposed fee.
All of the directors present during the meeting appeared to be in favor of accepting credit payments, but ultimately decided it was too late in the budget process to make the change.