We will have a special meeting at the Association office at 9:00 am on Thursday November 29th. The purpose of this meeting is to authorize a full audit of our 2012 financials and to ratify the 2013 HAAR and NALMLS budgets that have been approved by your Board of Directors. I have attached both budgets here for your review and want to point out a few details.
First, It is important to know what has gone into this process. Literally HUNDREDS of hours have been spent researching the numbers to get actual costs from which to benchmark. Every formula has been checked for accuracy. There have been over $60,000 of expenses cut from the NALMLS budget alone but the real problem that we have been experiencing is from declining membership. Although the 2013 budget uses historical data trends to predict the number of members who renew their membership, I am confident that this coming year will show significant improvement in our local market and therefore in member retention. While there were many cuts made to the budget, there was just no way to eliminate the deficit without eliminating essential services within our current fee structure. Since 2000, when times were good we have actually reduced our dues four times. Your board of directors had to make the difficult decision to raise dues back up by $7 per month which is still lower than they were in 1996. Our theme this year has been "Endeavor To Persevere". The idea was that 2012 would be the year that we had to hang on and in 2013 things would be turning around. This is proving true in our local market and in many parts of the rest of the country. If you have made it this far through the tough times, you have just about weathered the storm. There is daylight at the end of the tunnel!
Second, we have cash reserves that were put aside over the years for such a time as this. This is a testament to the foresight of our previous leaders. While we hope not to dip into them, these cash reserves are there as a safety net.
NALMLS budget. Yes, it shows a small deficit, but not as big as it appears. $10,000 of that deficit is depreciation, so it exists on paper only. That leaves just $8,000 of deficit that would actually come out of reserves and then ONLY if our very conservative member retention rate is not better than expected. If we have just 1% fewer members drop out, we will have no deficit. As I said earlier, I believe we will have an improving market next year and that we will not have the level of attrition that was budgeted for! Likewise, we have some non-dues revenue from Google ads and other sources that are very conservatively budgeted. The bottom line is that this budget was the best combination of cutting costs, increasing revenue and respecting members wallets while providing the high level of service that our members expect and deserve.
HAAR budget. Yes it also shows a deficit, but like in the NALMLS budget, much of it is depreciation. First, the deficit from NALMLS carries over to the HAAR budget since HAAR owns NALMLS. Second, there is over $35,000 worth of HAAR depreciation. Once you back those out, it is a deficit of $17,000 of which $27,000 is the proposed audit. Without that it would not be a deficit at all. Again, no one likes a deficit, but we
will
be working hard to increase membership and non-dues revenue to offset those figures.
In closing I want to thank the staff, the Finance and Budget Committee, your Officers and Directors and particularly, Opie Balch, your Secretary Treasurer for all the hard work and diligence that has been exerted on behalf of our Association. As we all prepare for Thanksgiving let's remember how blessed we are to live and work in THIS Huntsville Al homes for sale market. We have much to be thankful for!
2012 President, Huntsville Area Association of Realtors
HAAR 2013 Proposed Budget Comparison Adjustments
|
2012 Budget |
2013 Proposed by O&D 11.19.12
Ordinary Income/Expense
Income
1502 Interest Income
3500.00
3000.00
1503 Application Fees
68000.00
60000.00
1520 Late Fees
13500.00
11000.00
1524 Annual Key Maintenance
38036.46
31500.00
152513 HAAR Membership Dues
208700.00
159840.00
1526 Rent Income - MLS
81000.00
81000.00
1527 Education Income
28000.00
11600.00
1527.1 Orientation Income
0.00
4125.00
15291 Banquet Sponorships & Ticket Sales
25000.00
15000.00
1530 Misc Income
3000.00
1000.00
1531 Building Rental Income
4000.00
4000.00
1533 REALTOR Expo Income
11480.00
11480.00
1535 ARPAC Event Income
0.00
15000.00
15351 Arbitration/Mediation Fees
1500.00
1500.00
15352 Ethics Fines
0.00
0.00
1536 Lease of Computer System
75000.08
0.00
1538 Maps Income
500.00
350.00
1539 GMM Luncheon Income
16950.00
22789.00
1546 Royalties from NALMLS
46598.40
34560.00
1547 POC from NALMLS
0.00
72000.00
1552 KeyBoxes
44625.00
44625.00
1553 Supra Activekey Car Charger
375.00
375.00
1554 Supra Ekey Fob
3600.00
3000.00
1555 Supra Replacement Key Container
100.00
100.00
1556 Supra iPhone Adapter
4425.00
7080.00
Total Income
677889.94
594924.00
Gross Profit
677889.94
594924.00
Expense
1735 Accounting
6500.00
1500.00
1735.1 Audit
0.00
27000.00
1736 Dues & Subscriptions
2000.00
2000.00
1740 Advertising
9095.00
6120.00
1743 ARPAC (Golden R $2000)
2000.00
2000.00
1743.1 ARPAC Event Expense
0.00
12500.00
1756 Bank Svc Charge & CC Processing
6000.00
6000.00
1757 BRAC Expenses
2000.00
0.00
1761 Charitable Projects ($5,000)
5000.00
0.00
1762 Contributions
500.00
0.00
1766 Copier/Fax
1800.00
1800.00
1771 Chamber of Commerce-HREGI (10K)
15000.00
10000.00
1773 Depreciation Expenses**
0.00
35000.00
**Non-Cash expense
1776 Education & Seminars
14500.00
10000.00
1785 Grievance Committee
500.00
500.00
1786 Installation Banquet
25000.00
15000.00
1806 Insurance
6800.00
5000.00
1825 Hospitality
5000.00
1000.00
18271 Lockbox-SUPRA
40000.00
40000.00
18272 Lockbox Buyback
5000.00
5000.00
18274 ActiveKey Car Charger
0.00
0.00
18275 EKey Fob
4000.00
1000.00
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