Much discussion has been sparked regarding the money. In an effort to provide full clarity, this post provides a full documentation of our monthly operating budget as it stands as well as our yearly projection for 2023. I’ve also added a discussion of some of the larger budget items that we’ve encountered over the last few years so everyone can see how the big-ticket items affect the budget for years after.

Here is a table of the monthly expenses projected for this year. Numbers up until August are actual numbers. Anything August and after are estimates. I do just want to add here that we discuss and present this at each HOA meeting, so there has never been an effort to keep this hidden from anyone. We hope this blog post allows you access to the information that you miss when you can’t make it to the meetings.

Our lawn mowing services are a majority of our monthly expenses. Reliant energy is for the pond pumps and Ambit energy is for the streetlights. COP water is City of Pearland water charge for basic water waste management. The insurance is for the community and the HOA and is a standard expense for HOAs. Pump maintenance covers our pumps being inspected on a regular basis. Pond treatment covers treating the water for pests to keep the mosquitos down and provide regular reports on water quality. They can also clean the pond, remove the pump, and install a new pump. However, these things have not been in the budget so far. Office supplies are paper, envelopes, and stamps to send out the annual meeting notifications. Web service covers our website fee. Capital improvement is flowers and mulching. This line item would be where other capital improvement projects like replacing benches and adding more landscaping would go. SW Recovery Services is the fee collected from overdue HOA fees that this company collects. We outsourced collections for overdue accounts to this company in an effort to collect the HOA dues. This doesn’t cost anything out of pocket, but they do take a portion of any dues they successfully collect.

So, for reference, this year we collected a little over $35,000 in HOA dues. This gives us about $3,000 surplus for additional capital improvements. That is, until you consider the big-ticket items that popup every now and then as the community ages. As many of you know with your own home, over time there will be larger expenses that come up as your home ages. Below are some of the big ticket items we’ve had to address in our community recently.

Big ticket items that we are still impacted by are the pipe and fence replacement, tree trimming, and the pump replacement. The pipe and fence replacement were $8,198. We got quotes from several companies. Many didn’t even give us a quote because the job was too small. Of the ones that did, the company we went with beat the others by far. This absolutely needed to be fixed so we moved forward with this expense. Any time we trim the trees around the pond, it costs at least $1,100. We try to get this done whenever it is brought up, but it really eats into our yearly expenses. And as we all know, the pumps needed replacing a few years ago. This expense was around $10,000.

We hope this helps you understand where your money goes each year. If you still have concerns or questions, please send us a comment on the Contact Us page on our website or send an email directly to the board at board.pfhoa@gmail.com.

We on the board hear you and agree that the pond doesn’t hold the same charm it once did. However, there is a long history leading to its current appearance. When residents have attended our meetings and asked about the pond we’ve walked them through this history. However, we hear you and understand you can’t all make it. In an effort to address concerns that many community members have voiced, we have started a blog where we can address them in their entirety. This will also be a source of information and reference for new residents as they may ask the same questions. We hope you find this helpful. Our first post will be about the pond.

When Pearland Farms was initially developed by Dwain Evans back in 2000, the plans included a dry bottom detention basin. The developer requested a design change with the City and was granted approval for a “Wet Bottom Detention Basin” with roughly 3-5 feet of water depth. After building the wet bottom basin, and after City Approvals, a fountain was added by the developer. The design included automatic level control to keep the level at its designed water depth. The developer, without City Engineering approval, then changed the level control on the system and raised the water level to over half of the basin’s capacity. This design was much prettier, hid all the unsightly pipes and concrete, and sold more houses. This action by the developer, however, defeated the purpose of the storm water basin, which is primarily flood control, but it looked pretty. He did not care that it put homes at risk of flooding.

The “pond”, as it is commonly referred to, stayed in the high-water level condition for years and years, while the HOA was in control of the developer. The City never inspected or showed concern with the system while developer was in control. However, when design began in Orchard Glen in 2011, Pearland Farms HOA was under resident control and detention system owned by the HOA. The Orchard Glen developer wanted to tie into our basin and use our pumps without any improvements, or payment agreement for usage. It was during these inspections where Pearland Farms HOA, Orchard Glen Developers, City of Pearland, and Brazoria County Drainage District all realized Dwain Evans had raised the water level and defeated the design of the system, endangering homes to possible flooding. Orchard Glen Developers opted to build a system separate from Pearland Farms, with their own pumps, following the requirements of the City and Brazoria County Drainage District.

During the inspections and discussions of the Pearland System in 2011, the level controls were set back to original design and the system allowed to pump out to the designed level. This is the state the system is in today. Unfortunately, the flooding of the system by Dwain Evans caused damage to the very expensive pumps. They were not designed to be kept under water for years. The HOA in recent years, has replaced these pumps and are maintaining them with routine maintenance. The system is running as designed and able to retain the designed amount of rainwater in a large storm. The basin, after years of being flooded above design level, also had damage to the side slopes. This sluffing is due to the basin being under water for years. This has not been addressed and has been cause for failed inspection by some inspectors. This sluffing does not interfere with the function of the retention basin. Brazoria Drainage District Official did not have issue with it. It is debatable whether it is a failure item or not.

As many of you may remember, the board received a letter from the City in December of 2021. Upon receiving City Inspection reports the HOA went out for quotes to repair the bank sluffing and large inlet pipe that had rusted out completely. The corrections for repairing the bank side slopes were high and could not be justified at this point. Justification ultimately failed because the cost was so high and the fix could have caused more dirt to sluff into the basin damaging the capacity and possibly getting dirt into the recently repaired pump system. The quote for fixing the pipe and surrounding fence was reasonable and that work was executed. This repair brought that item up to code, fixed an item that was considered a safety concern and eye sore.

The Pond Fountain broke down due to age and being over-sized for the depth of the wet bottom basin. The fountain is not required by code or design but does add oxygen to the water and is pleasant to look at. The HOA has plans to replace it with a smaller sized fountain(s) suited for the size of the basin. This will be done when budget allows.

We now find ourselves living in a beautiful community that does have a pond that is still home to native wildlife.  We hope you understand why those changes were made.

There are other issues that have been addressed with regards to the pond based on your concerns. We have spent $1,100 trimming the trees and $4,150 on landscaping in the last year alone. We have also invested $1,400 to have the jagged edges of previous landscaping removed and the track restocked with crushed granite to improve safety. Of note, when we made the track safer by removing the old landscaping metal, we had the option to also trim trees and add landscaping, but our current budget just does not allow for anything outside of absolute necessity.

We know this doesn’t cover all of the issues that have been raised by you, but we are limited in what we can do. Our limitation is in our budget. Many residents in the community have decided to refuse payment of the HOA dues. We urge each of you to pay your dues, even if only on a payment plan. If we cannot maintain the necessary operating budget for monthly bills, then we cannot invest in capital investment projects suggested by residents. Curious about our operating costs? Attend the next HOA meeting! Or see our next blog post. Everything you want to know about where the money goes.