If you have any concern at all about where your money is going, look at the article in Smoke Signals Online about “Mountains Grille off to a Great Start.” In it we have a key insight into the mentality (or lack thereof) of our board members. Quote from the article: Seferian noted that even with the Food and Beverages loss, Amenities Operations overall are in the black. “In 2008, the cash flow of amenities is positive,” he said. “Property owners are not subsidizing it, not one dime.” It would be insulting to the man’s intelligence to suggest that he actually believes this but it does make a statement about how stupid they think we are.

Excuse me, but aren’t we paying for the other amenities? Who is paying for this if not the property owners? Any way you look at it, we are having to come up with $500,000 through October of this year to cover the debacle at the new clubhouse. This doesn’t even include the $215,000 for Clubhouse Management, another attempt to hide the true cost of operating the facility.

As far as the actual operation of the Mountains Grille, you are actually doing all of us a favor by not going there. According to the October financial statements, the cost of goods sold is 40.5% year to date while salaries are another 74.7%. Therefore, we are losing 15.2% on every dollar spent there.

Next year the board is planning on another $428,000 for F&B (according to the article) plus who knows how much for Clubhouse Management. Monthly assessments are going up 6.3% and amenities are going up 6%. But not to worry, our budget is balanced.

Remember, we also borrowed $675,000 to cover our operating costs.

If there was ever a time for an uprising, it certainly is now.