The Sun City association board of directors is using an unusual method to out-source some accounting operations.
At the quarterly meeting on Oct. 22, the board voted 6-1 to send monthly accounting operations to the home office of FirstService Residential, the management company that coordinates resident activities and maintains facilities at Sun City. This will be effective on Jan. 1. Board member Bob Beaupre, who is retiring from the board in January, voted no.
This is a one-year “interim” contract. While the out-sourcing moves forward, an ad hoc committee will review the pros and cons of internal versus external accounting, to help the board determine if the out-sourcing method will continue beyond a year or will be brought back in-house.
Bill Ziletti, board member and former member of the Finance Advisory Committee, explained the procedure this way. “Normally, we would convene the ad hoc committee to study this, get recommendations, and then decide if we want to do it,” he said. “But we need to do something right now with our accounting, because we’re operating with some temporary workers since the departure of former Finance Director Bruce Carr.”
Out-sourcing has been discussed by the board for some time, he added, and it was decided now is the time to act.
The new CAM finance director is Gaydeane Feggestad.
“The move will save the association about $126,000 annually,” according to Stephen Doran, a representative of FSR, in a presentation to the board. “It also will increase and enhance oversight of your accounting practices and improve internal controls. Our home office accounting staff of 60 persons with nine managers will provide customized financial statements and state of the art accounting software. Reserve accounts, investments and payments and cash services will stay at Sun City. We will take over your lock box operation, which is costing you about $20,000 now, at no charge,” Doran added.
This is the first out-sourcing of any kind of management activity at Sun City. Resident reaction was mixed, but mostly favorable. One resident objected, saying there isn’t enough transparency in the move. Another asked about the role of auditing Sun City reports and statements. Doran said this would be handled by FSR.
In a related move, the board announced the appointment of two new members to the Finance Advisory Committee for 2015 – Cal Meyer and Sandra Cross, and the re-appointment of two others – Bill Berendt and George Sebastian.
Finally, it was announced that the proposed 2015 CAM budget has been published as an insert in the November Lifestyles, and that residents can get further information on the budget at a series of meetings for neighborhood groups on Nov. 6 (today) starting at 10 a.m. and lasting until 6 p.m., at the Fountain View Center.
