On Wednesday, May 26, the IVGID Board is expected to approve the first reduction ($50) in the combined Recreation/Beach Facility Fees in over a decade.

For those new to the community, IVGID’s Rec Facility Fee and Beach Facility Fee (amounting to nearly $7 million a year) , although they appear on your property tax bill, are not set by the State, nor are they based on assessed valuation. Instead, every parcel/dwelling unit with beach access is assessed the same amount which is determined annually by the IVGID Board. Every year IVGID is supposed to tell the Board what is “required” and the Board approves the amount to be collected. No bond election, no legally restricted funds, just “tax” and spend on whatever. For years those fees steadily increased, even after bonds for facilities were paid off. About 10 years ago some citizens finally protested those increases. The fees stopped going up, but never went down, even though several more bonds have been paid off since then and increased pricing at Diamond Peak improved revenues. The District’s Recreation and Beach user fees still don’t even cover operating expenses at most venues, so the facility fees have been subsidizing operating costs, as well.

IVGID will also receive over $3.5 million in property taxes and “combined” (sales taxes, etc.) taxes this year into its General Fund. Those funds are used almost entirely for administrative expenses and selected “central services” such as IT and marketing that are not reimbursed by the funds for recreation and utilities. And instead of using unspent funds to reduce facility fees, that fund has accumulated an excess* of about $3.5 million.

For the past several years IVGID has been collecting so-called Facility Fees in excess of what was actually budgeted/needed. The former Director of Finance termed the practice “smoothing”. The reason given was that he felt it was “upsetting” to the property owners and difficult for staff to have to adjust to annual fluctuation in fees. Consequently a huge slush fund (i.e. funds with no particular project or use) was amassed. The current Board finally decided to spend down some of the roughly $7 million in excess* funds and collect only $100 for the Rec Fee this year. They decided to move the major portion of the assessment to the beach fee ($680) to pay for the new Burnt Cedar pool, a proposed Beach House (food and beverage service facility/restrooms) and perhaps an access control system at beach entrances. This is expected to result in an excess balance in the Beach Fund of $4.3 by the end of June’22  (remaining after paying for the new pool ).

IVGID commissioned numerous studies in recent years to determine potential capital projects (separate studies for the beaches, community services, tennis and Diamond Peak) but the public was never presented a comprehensive list together with estimated costs to prioritize. Instead, the Board has been deciding for us.

The tennis center and Mountain Golf facility upgrades are complete and the new pool is underway (few would argue with the pool project when it was discovered the old pool was leaking). But many other projects are “discretionary”. The property owners (who pay for these facilities with their annual facility fees) should have the final say on how their money is spent and if more should be collected.

Let the Board know you want updated costs estimates and a survey of property owners only so they can decide what new project(s), if any, they want to fund.

If you would like to learn more about IVGID’s history, and unique ways, go to IVGID101.com

*In excess of the Board recommended reserve.