Will we ever see 2%-3% dues increase at BLT?

[spiceycat]

BWV never had just a 2 or 3% increase and would compare with it. So would say no.

now they did say that because it was one building - it would be less than the other resorts. but that was before they started to change it. DVC say they were not charging the members for these changes - but guess what - really think in the long run they did.

then when we finally have the changes to the bathroom done - they might put up the extra cuirtain (sheer) that members have also been asking about since the beginning.

that say back when OKW was DVC - got told that DVC would try to kept the costs close 6% to 8% - so as long it is in that range not complaining (okay not much)

 

[spiceycat]

Legally, if they need to, dues can go up 15%. And, anything they "told" you versus anything you got in writing is just gone with the wind.

got told that Florida was 30% that timeshares could go up in one year. Did they lower it?

 

[JimMIA]

Really, you don't say....

 

[disneynutz]

Well, hoping not to offend anyone in particular, IMO the Q&A had largely morphed into a platform for members to voice their own niche special interests. Every year there were rather mundane questions about certain cable channels not being carried, "why don't we get more discounts?", "why don't people who own a large number of points get better perks?", complaints about bus transportation, room accessibility, decor, etc.

I couldn't help but sense the irony when owners go directly from complaining about costs (dues increases) to wanting additional services added.

And there were also questions from people who just didn't understand the economics of running a hotel / timeshare. 3-4 years ago it was "why are our dues still going up while we're in a recession?" Operating costs associated with property management (union wages, health insurance and other benefits, fuel prices, etc.) typically aren't subject to the impacts of a recession. But there's no effective way to teach Econ 101 in an open forum where they're trying to accommodate dozens of questions in a limited time.

Overall I would have preferred that the Q&A stay. Morbid curiosity, I guess. But in a sense, I don't blame them for eliminating it. Last year's meeting was less than half as long as the year before. It went from nearly 3 hours down to about 80 minutes.

Some of the answers were generic. Some were also very specific...and informative. I could provide several examples if you wish.

As for the security, if YOU were planning the meeting, would you run it without a security presence? Regardless of how satisfied (or not) the masses are with DVC, there's always the possibility of a confrontation. In the minds of some, it's an adversarial environment similar to a shareholder's meeting.

Much better to have security on-hand than be scrambling to protect attendees if someone with an axe to grind refuses to act in a civil manner.

Don't you agree that after the Aulani issues, Bilby coming on board promising full transparency, having the over the top Dapper Dan meeting, Bilby being let go, and the Q&A session being removed from the meetings a little curious. I also found it a little weird that at the beginning of the Q&A's they would have people telling the executives what a great job they are doing then the harder questions would come and they would run out of time. I always wondered if the Q&A's were salted.

Bill

 

[JessLCH]

It's interesting to note that the dollar value of the increase is $.2874 per point. Of that, nearly all of it can traced back to the "Administration and Front Desk" cost component ($.1407) and property taxes ($.0840). All of the remaining adjustments collectively totaled only $.0627 per point.

Property taxes are largely uncontrollable. Disney does have people who actively work with Orange County to question/challenge/contest their appraisals. Remember, Disney pays taxes on all of Walt Disney World and the DVC resorts are a tiny sample of that property. So it's in their best interest to actively monitor those assessments.

As for the admin category, the easy conclusion to draw is that the fully-staffed front desk & bell services at the Tower could be taking a toll. I only looked at a couple other resorts but none of them had front desk cost increases of this magnitude. SSR's increase from 2013 to 2014 was less than a penny per point.

Where did you get these numbers from last year? Looking for the BLT numbers from last years condo association notification compared to this year's.

 

[Nabas]

BWV never had just a 2 or 3% increase and would compare with it. So would say no.

Since opening in 1996, BWV has had 9 years when MF increases were under 3%, including 4 of the last 5 years. Over its entire history, BWV has averaged 2.75%.

BLT's MF increases over the last 3 years (averaging 7.15%) can be traced to several factors including: unexpected wear-and-tear, an unexplained (as far as I know) ~30% jump in Mousekeeping, and the addition of Front Desk personnel. Are there others?

Just expressing my opinion but it seems to me certain executives at Disney looked for ways to cut BLT's short-term costs in order to create artificially low MF. As these factors are weeded out, BLT's MF should stabilize. Making an unfounded prediction, I think BLT's MF increase next year will be inline with other WDW DVCs.

Frankly, AKV is a bit more worrisome. MFs there have increased an average of 6.06% over the last 3 years. I've not yet read a good explanation for these increases. Does anyone know why?

 

[drusba]

The increase from 2013 to 2014 for Administration and front desk cannot be due mainly to having personnel at BLT for check-in. Those have been there through 10 in the evening all of 2013. Nothing new is being added for 2014. A check-in was added to BLT because a lot of members were asking for it.

The administration and front desk increase can reflect a lot of things including personnel raises both for those at BLT and Contemporary (your contributing to personnel at both buildings including all the luggage and engineering operations). Administration includes costs of overall management and operations of the resort. In other words, this latest raise cannot be blamed on having check-in services at BLT.

 

[Nabas]

The increase from 2013 to 2014 for Administration and front desk cannot be due mainly to having personnel at BLT for check-in. Those have been there through 10 in the evening all of 2013. Nothing new is being added for 2014. A check-in was added to BLT because a lot of members were asking for it.

The BLT front desk was introduced in August 2012.

With an 8.5% increase in MF in 2012 and another 6.6% increase in 2013, BLT already had one of the highest 2-year MF increases in DVC history. I believe the highest 2-year increase ever at a WDW DVC.

Despite 2013 being the first full-year of having a fully staffed front desk, BLT's Admin/Front Desk fee actually decreased 1% in 2013. In 2013, the big hitter was Housekeeping, up 30%.

In 2012, BLT had the maintenance issue of adding locks and moving the sinks. Plus, if I remember correctly, issues with furniture.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I would be curious to know if BLT has a higher guest turnover than other resorts? That could certainly account for more mousekeeping don't you think? If the average stay is shorter at BLT, the rooms are getting cleaned more often than others.

I think the whole percentage increase is overrated. When comparing the lowest dues to resorts with higher dues......an equal $ amount increase will ALWAYS be a higher percentage increase in the lower dues resort. BUT each resort would have an = real world $ increase. BLT had a LOWER increase compared to OKW....but yet you will see complaints about the % increase because BLT % was technically higher, but it's real life amount was lower. If every resort saw a $0.15 increase in dues, BLT would show the highest % increase.

There are many examples and reasons posted for the various increases.....but dues WILL rise each year, it's pretty much a safe assumption to make. Be happy if you are an SSR owner, and be worried if you are an AKV owner. I don't see any real alarm for the others.

 

[drusba]

got told that Florida was 30% that timeshares could go up in one year. Did they lower it?

Both Florida law and the DVC official documents state that it is 15% maximum increase annually; it has been that for decades so it was not lowered. It is not an absolute maximum but if more than a 15% increase were proposed for an upcoming year, the members themselves would get to suggest alternatives and vote on proposals. The law itself is not just limited to timeshares since it applies generally to condominiums and coops.

 

[tjkraz]

The increase from 2013 to 2014 for Administration and front desk cannot be due mainly to having personnel at BLT for check-in. Those have been there through 10 in the evening all of 2013. Nothing new is being added for 2014. A check-in was added to BLT because a lot of members were asking for it.

The administration and front desk increase can reflect a lot of things including personnel raises both for those at BLT and Contemporary (your contributing to personnel at both buildings including all the luggage and engineering operations). Administration includes costs of overall management and operations of the resort. In other words, this latest raise cannot be blamed on having check-in services at BLT.

I suspect DVC covered the cost of the dedicated front dest in 2012 and 2013.

The staffed front desk opened in August '12 and that's pretty close to when the next year's budgets are finalized. The Admin and Front Desk dues component actually went down from $.4729 per point in 2012 to $.4681 per point in 2013.

With it being something of an experiment, DVC appears to have absorbed the added cost for the remainder of 2012 and into 2013, perhaps planning to only pass it along to owners once they decided the service would become permanent.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed at BLT last March and it seemed like there were alot of cm's in the lobby. 2 or 3 behind the front desk, one at the bellstand, bellman outside, greeter inside the door. I agree with Tim, they are probably easing in the cost.