Your officers wish members and families all a healthy and prosperous New Year. In keeping with our goal of increased communication and transparency, we are providing a general update on the progress of your new Board of Directors, who took office November 1, 2022.
– The Board of Directors made the following Officer appointments: Jen Sawyer as President, Laszlo Kubinyi as Vice President, Justin Dennison as Treasurer, and Jackie Fritsch-Bremer as Secretary.
– The prior Board failed to file timely Federal tax returns from 2008 through 2021. As a result, we have received and paid late penalties from the IRS for $7,812.15 thus far. The IRS can charge as much as $20/day a filing is late. Based on the average penalty amount, we could see penalties in upwards of $36,456.70 for 14 years of late filings. However, after discussion with the IRS, we are optimistic these penalties will be abated and refunded. Your new Board has drafted reasonable cause abatement requests and submitted them to the IRS for consideration.
– The prior Board incorrectly filed the 2021 Federal tax return in paper, which was received, but rejected by the IRS because as of July 2021, 990-EZs must be filed online. Your new Board has resubmitted the 2021 990-EZ electronically.
– The 2023 City of Ouray water bill came in at $83,241.48 compared to $72,832.92 in 2022. The increase is attributed to increases in the rates charged for the future water treatment plant.
– To offset the increase in the cost of water, we are doing our best to minimize the maintenance fees charged to each account while still prioritizing routine and deferred maintenance on our water lines. To pull this off, your new Board has thus far waived all compensation provided by our Bylaws; prepared and sent its own billings; prepared its own taxes for 2022; and maintained its own website; instead of hiring contractors to perform these functions.
– The 2023 water billings have been sent out by either email or mail. Postage was charged back to the accounts requiring mailing. Please provide an email address to avoid future postage charges. Also, please check the spam folders if you did not receive the billing by email.
– The Board established monthly autodraft payments to the City of Ouray to eliminate the possibility of a missed payment.
– The Board surveyed its subdivisions in order to locate and record on GPS the master and home water shutoff valves.
– The Board has been soliciting for legal assistance in the filing of liens on parcels for delinquent accounts. Any legal fees will be charged back to the delinquent accounts in accordance with our Bylaws.
– The Board has reduced the number of delinquent accounts down to one by 2022 year-end, recovering $3,830.99, which will go back into our savings.
– In an effort to reduce the frequency of delinquent accounts, the Board of Directors unanimously voted to change the Bylaws from charging a $10 fee per quarter for rebilling delinquent accounts, to charging interest in the amount of 1.5% per month (18% per year), a method used in earlier iterations of our Bylaws, which went into effect on January 1, 2023.
– The Board has completed the 2023 Budget, 2022 Treasurer Report, and 2022 Annual Meeting Minutes, which accompany this newsletter.
The Board’s future goals include:
– Finding and appointing volunteers to serve as Vice President and Treasurer to fill all six (6) seats afforded by our Bylaws to improve the functioning of the two independent Boards. Two Directors are currently performing these duties
– Bylaw revision
– Converting historical paper records to electronic on a shared drive for all board members to access
– Creating continuity “binders” for Secretary and Treasurer so important tasks like filing taxes are not forgotten
– Filing a lien on the parcel of William Baker for delinquent debt
– Uploading important documents, like annual meeting minutes, to our website
– Updating mailing and email addresses of members
– Updated call lists for service outages
– Sending notice of our next annual meeting
If you have recently changed mailing or email addresses or phone numbers, please send information to bswuassociation@gmail.com. If you have any questions or concerns about your water billings, please contact the Treasurer at bswuatreasury@gmail.com. Last, but not least, if you have a water emergency, please contact Phil Blackford at 970-325-4521 or 970-596-3145 followed by one of the following board members: Jen Sawyer/970-975-0254; Laszlo Kubinyi/843-901-1231; Justin Dennison/307-640-2857; Jackie Fritsch-Bremer/410-271-6480. Please join our Facebook group at Bachelor Switch Water Users Association.
We appreciate the trust you have placed in us to manage this association. We take the responsibilities you have entrusted to us seriously and aim to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of this association