Assessments — how dues work

The association runs on assessments — “dues.” This page explains the mechanics the recorded documents establish: how the amount is set, how it’s owed, and what happens when it isn’t paid. (Current-year amounts and budgets are association business communicated to owners directly; they aren’t published here.)

How the amount is set

• The board estimates the coming year’s common expenses and sets the annual assessment at least 30 days before the fiscal year starts (the fiscal year is the calendar year) (Trust, p. 11).
• Every lot pays the same share — expenses are split equally, 6.25% per lot (Covenants Art. VII, pp. 10–12).
• The board may levy supplemental assessments mid-year if the estimate falls short, and may assess for a reserve (Trust, p. 11).
• Technically the Trust makes each owner’s share payable one-twelfth monthly; in practice the board bills installments.
• At the subdivision’s start, the developer could collect a $250 initial contribution from each lot’s first buyer at closing (same page) — a one-time seed for the treasury.

What the money is for

The assessment funds the association’s recorded obligations — the private road, the stormwater system, the open space, insurance, and administration (Covenants Art. II, pp. 3–4). These aren’t optional service levels: most of them are duties the City can enforce (see Stormwater).

If an assessment isn’t paid

The recorded collection mechanics are strict (Covenants Art. VII, p. 11):

• 15 days after the due date, unpaid charges become a lien on the lot.
• The debt accrues 12% annual interest, plus collection costs and attorney’s fees.
• The lien is valid for 5 years, and co-owners are jointly and severally liable.
• A lot effectively can’t close a sale or refinance until charges are cleared — buyers’ attorneys ask the board for a “no charges due” certificate.

Where to verify

Everything above is in two instruments in the library: the Declaration of Trust (how the assessment is set) and the Declaration of Covenants (the equal split, the lien, and the interest). Both were recorded at Book 34576 and can be pulled independently from the Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds — this site’s copies are convenience copies, not the record. The common parcel’s own tax bills — the association’s largest fixed external cost historically — are in the library’s City Tax Bills section, and the parcel’s live assessment is on the City’s assessor database at Patriot Properties, account 12074.