Everyone is O.K. with an 8.5% increase?

[DeeP]

I find it very interesting that OKW dues are the highest reported so far, with BWV, HH, & VB still out for the count the last I heard. OKW has historically had the lowest dues increases. I have a funny feeling the rumor of the upgraded main pool might just be true! I know insurance rates have gone up, believe me I know, I live in the NY/NJ area, I KNOW about insurance rates, BUT OKW dues still went up higher than any of the other DVC resorts so far even with their higher insurance rates. There has got to be a reason and just maybe the rumor is true. I am sure many OKW owners would be very happy to see life guards and a refurbbed pool, and even all the die hearts that say "no we like the pool the way it is", you guys will all enjoy the refurbbed pool just as much as anyone else. You know you will!!! Everyone likes when things are refurbished and updated and you know Disney will do a top notch job! I know I have read that members have to supposedly vote for an upgrade to a pool or something, but I am sure since it is their pool there is someway Disney can write this in for a refurbishment expense/upkeep expense and therefore payable through dues.

 

[Halle]

We have been members since '93, the maintenance fees have always been fair, and when they've been lowered my DH and I are thrilled. I know others may disagree but in the last 2-3 years there has been a decline ( my opinion ) in the upkeep of the rooms. We always request the same building and I'm ashamed to report a specific room and have been accomodated 5 out of 6 times. We've noticed the good and the bad...new mattresses, better than home!!! Less amenities, all have been discussed before. Bottom line if DVC raises the dues and delivers the goods I'm a happy camper because I know the Mouse has our best interests at heart and if he doesn't then the increase may not be justified.

 

[PamOKW]

I have to say I'm not that thrilled with such a large increase either. I think the blow was cushioned a little by the rumors reported here first.

Doc, has posted the line by line and I took a look at it myself. The biggest increases seem to be coming from Insurance, Security and Utilities. All areas that were influenced by 9/11.

While I'm not happy, I am glad that they didn't substantially cut areas that effect members to make-up for the Insurance, etc. Hopefully, this will not become the new norm for increases. We've been spoiled. I would like to see more gradual increases whenever possible.

 

[Eeyore2U]

Originally posted by Fenceman
I have not seen the breakdown of the expenses but I wager a big portion of the increase is going toward insurance. Insurance premiums have seen double digit increases and Disney Property would be a prime terror attack location.

In another thread on this topic regarding the VWL someone posted an increase in money spent on insurance that equated to 600%. I'm sure this has a huge impact. Someone posted it was 25% of the increase.

 

[Eeyore2U]

Originally posted by doubletrouble_vb
Other posts have pointed out that about half of the increase came from insurance. Beyond that....do I trust Disney? No.

I'm sure we checked into Association Law in FL you would see that the board(DVD/DVC) has a FIDUCIARY responsibilty to it's investors. I have faith they do the right thing.

 

[RobDoc]

In order from lowest to highest, here are the increases for the 2003 annual fees:

BWV- 0.18
HH - 0.20
BCV- 0.20
VB - 0.20
VWL- 0.25
OKW- 0.27

I assume some of the discrepancies are due to maintenance fees (BWV has had no cost to owners for the exterior maintenance, while OKW has been repainting the exteriors out of dues.) But, obviously there are other reasons for the differences (VWL has had few maintenance issues thus far) and we'll need to assess the full reports to get a better handle on all of the reasons.

Some of the increases are based on estimates of 2003 needs- which may or may not be accurate.

On order from lowest to highest, here are the actual maintenance fees for 2003:

OKW- $3.49
HH - $3.69
BCV - $3.97
VWL- $4.05
BWV- $4.10
VB - $4.37

Stay Tuned!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Thanx for the info, Doc. I was wondering when we would hear about VB.

 

[JudithM]

I can only speak for OKW, but I know from talking to CMs in management & from reading the annual budget, that money (maintenance fees) is set aside in a capital reserve fund every year. This money is for future capital projects like appliances, furniture, exterior painting, etc. There is a long term schedule that anticipates these projects. The thorough attention to detail on maintenance is the quality I expected when I purchased a Disney timeshare several years ago.

I have not yet seen my dues statement. However, if insuarnce, security & utilities are the main reasons for the increase, well I can look at my household expenses. Those same expenses have increased at home, so I am not surprised they have at Disney, too.

Bottom line .. I have every confidence that the CMs involved in the budget continue to sharpen every pencil.

Doc, thanks for posting your numbers comparing the DVC reosrts.

 

[DeeP]

I don't understand how the rise in the insurance cost could be so much higher for one resort over the other. The insurance cost for all the DVC properties went up. Now unless OKW was very under insured and they needed to bump up the coverage, the highest rise in dues out of all the DVC properties means they are going to be spending money on things other than insurance, because the insurance went up for ALL DVC properties, as did utilities bills, etc. As for remodeling, didn't they just redo all the villas down to even new appliances and furniture? That would have been out of last years budget, NO?
I still say, they are going to be doing refurishment on the main pool, the dock area, the health club, etc. Which is a good thing, the resort will be even nicer than it already is!

 

[RobDoc]

I don't understand how the rise in the insurance cost could be so much higher for one resort over the other.

The OKW insurance costs went up about 6.5 cents per point. I assume that others were similar on a per point basis. On a percentage basis- OKW will be higher since it was so much lower than other resorts previously.

The cost of replacing appliances and furnishings comes out of the reserve budget- since it can be planned reliably for the future.

The other increases are all similar in scope to OKW, so I don't see any likelyhood of a major rehab for anything else. Guess we'll just have to wait another 2 weeks until the annual meeting for any news about the pool.

Stay Tuned!

 

[PamOKW]

Monies are put into the Capital Reserve budget on an on-going basis. It starts when the resorts are brand new. Disney has a pretty good idea when refurbishments will be necessary and how much they will cost. They try to spread the cost out over time.

Taking a quick look at the Capital Reserve budget for 2003 vs. the planned 2002 budget, it shows where money was used for the interior refurbishment and common element renovation. Money will now be going back in to these categories and they should be financed when needed again for refurbishment.

One very noticeable difference that shows up in this budget (and probably your budget at home) is that Interest Income has dropped significantly. In 2002, this was projected at $742,166. For 2003, the projection is $490,713.

 

[Eeyore2U]

Pam,

My DW said that might be a factor. If DVD had the reserves invested in the stock market there may have been losses as well. If you look at it realistically it mirrors the economy

 

[jimmytammy]

dbKelly
I can understand where your coming from on the wages not increasing while everything else continues to climb. I am riding in the same boat with you, in fact I put in extra hrs over weekends to pay for DVC.
My point I guess is that DVC gave us info before purchasing that warned about dues increasing at times. Do I like it, no, do I have to accept it, yes, if I wish to remain in DVC.

 

[Doctor P]

I may be wrong, but I don't think reserves can be invested in the stock market (at least in the states that I am familiar with). More likely, reserves are invested in insured accounts of some type (all of which have since a substantial drop in interest paid in recent years).

 

[normr]

As I posted last week, they are now apparently putting in new appliances in many of the buildings, ( we were in building 26) and we had a new refrigerator, glass top stove, dishwasher, microwave, and washer and dryer,

 

[manning]

Here's a thought. We just stayed at BCV. There was a confusion on our account and while I was at the front desk getting it corrected, the manager was there.

We got talking and I mentioned that I was surprised to see damage to one of the doors,(door stop was pushed into the door, which is particle board). It had to have taken a hell of a hit.

He wished that more people would be gentler and you would be surprised on the frequencies of repair do to roughness.

It looks like some of this roughness is appearing on our dues.

 

[DeeP]

Well, OKW must have been very under insured, had a capital reserve way off base and have a lot of rough guests because I have yet to see one reason posted here yet to answer why OKW dues rose at a significatly higher rate than the other DVC resorts. Inusrance, utilities, capital reserves (whatever, I only breezed through these posts--I read too much mumbo jumbo at work), maintenance costs, etc went up for ALL the DVC resorts at the same rate, why the significately higher increase for OKW?
Unless DVC is trying to equalize the dues a little better and the DVC resorts with the highest dues got the lower increases?? I am still holding out with my pool, dock etc refurbishment theory. LOL

 

[lehrsj]

Originally posted by manning
Here's a thought. We just stayed at BCV. There was a confusion on our account and while I was at the front desk getting it corrected, the manager was there.

We got talking and I mentioned that I was surprised to see damage to one of the doors,(door stop was pushed into the door, which is particle board). It had to have taken a hell of a hit.

He wished that more people would be gentler and you would be surprised on the frequencies of repair do to roughness.

It looks like some of this roughness is appearing on our dues.

Just wondering - was this room 473? We were at BCV Nov 11-13 and the door in the bathroom had the door stop pushed through the door.

 

[RobDoc]

Inusrance, utilities, capital reserves (whatever, I only breezed through these posts--I read too much mumbo jumbo at work), maintenance costs, etc went up for ALL the DVC resorts at the same rate, why the significately higher increase for OKW?

Perhaps someone can post the details of one of the other onsite resorts- as were posted for OKW- and we can see where the difference might be.

The budgets for the resorts may well NOT be in the same payment cycles for items like insurance. In the past there have been years when OKW dues went down while BWV dues rose. These differences can be explained with a look at the line entry details.

As already mentioned, BWV had the advantage this year of the contractor paying for all exterior maintenance at that resort, while other resort maintenance costs were paid by the owners of those resorts.

 

[PamOKW]

Doc's right that we can't make any comparison unless we have the line items for all the resorts to compare.....so you multiple home resort owners need to get cracking on those spreadsheets. We don't know that the increases for the various items were the same for all resorts.