At a recent board meeting, the question was asked about the trend of raising dues the last two years in a row. This is a great question and we felt like the answer that was given at the meeting should be posted here for all to read.

The Board of Directors is not expecting to have to raise dues again for the next two years pending unforeseen expenses such as natural disasters. Part of what led to the increase two years in a row is the attempt to build sufficient reserves back to the minimal level needed, as outlined by our reserve study, as well as provide a modest budget for the upkeep of our village.

It should be noted that MBV went for 10 years with a consistent dues rate of $225.00. During the decade, many of our village costs, fees, and services increased. Some of these include landscape and maintenance, pool chemicals, maintenance and life guard salaries; and park renovations. The fact that dues stayed the same for a decade put our HOA behind the budgetary curve.

In addition, MBV is defined with major streets as its border, thus our greenbelts do not join those of other villages. This means that we, unlike the majority of other Kingwood villages, do not have separate trail association dues. This translates into maintenance costs for our greenbelts here in MBV coming out of our general HOA funds.

In order to gain some additional perspective, we requested our management company to gather the dues information from surrounding villages. We have posted that information in the table below. For example, to live in Hunters Ridge you would pay $405 a year ($320 assessment plus a $85 trail fee) to the HOA.

We hope this explanation, which was originally given in regards to a question posed at our most recently monthly board meetings, will give some insight in to the board’s rationale.

Thank you.

The Mills Branch Board of Directors