By Mike Feazel
LMOA dues and most fees would go up 3% next year, slightly less than the 3.4% rate of inflation, under the staff budget proposal presented to the board in a work session Tuesday. The final vote on the 2027 budget is expected at the November board meeting.
Homeowner dues would increase to $1,239.13 from $1,203.04 under the proposal. Of that, $382.48 would go to LMOA reserves for future road, facility repair, lake, and other expenses. LMOA is projected to have $9.9 million in reserves at the end of that year.
The proposed budget calls for LMOA to end the 2027 year with a surplus of less than $100.
The proposed budget includes a 5% increase in employee salaries and health care costs and a 4% increase in trash pickup costs. It also increases the food and beverage subsidy to $145,000 per year from the current $115,000 and raises payments to Allied Security by 4%.
Under the proposal, dues revenue would total $5.7 million in 2027, and total revenue would be $10.6 million.
The budget has some flexibility, including that employee costs are budgeted as if LMOA were fully staffed the entire year, which seldom happens, lowering actual employee spending. There’s often other spending that’s included in the budget that doesn’t actually happen.
Not included in the budget is a list of several projects that the staff anticipates doing in 2027, but for which planning isn’t complete and for which board approval would be needed. They include an estimated $400,000 for a more proactive approach to road maintenance, $300,000 to replace finger piers at the marina, $130,000 to repair or replace the fishing pier at Tufton Pond, and $60,700 for a beta test of TryMarine’s method of improving lake water health on 10 acres in Jackson Cove.
