Board Buzz

In the New Town homeowner’s world, the importance of the NTRA budget is second only to our governing documents. Compared to many HOAs, the Association’s budget is very complex, with many inter-related pieces due to our neighborhoods and mix of housing. By offering a range of landscape packages, the 2026 budget also had to factor in these varying costs. All projected expense and income inputs become the basis for the budget year’s homeowner assessments. Here is an overview of the process for 2026.

 

 

We use a multistep process to develop the annual budget each year. The process begins by examining the financial situation of the Association, the previous year’s expenditures and budget variances, and desired major projects. We review the financial records of previous years to identify trends to consider when the new budget is developed. This comparison provides data used to adjust for items that were under- or over-budgeted in the previous year.  

 

The budget shows both known and estimated income, including assessments, user fees, and investment interest.  Known expenses such as management fees, insurance, taxes, and common area landscaping are listed. Estimates are used to address items such as legal fees and planned major repairs. In order to address any unknown costs, the Association maintains operational reserves and replacement reserves. The replacement reserve contribution is set by the current replacement reserve study, while the operational reserve contribution is set by the Board of Directors judgement.  

 

A list of planned projects and known repairs for the upcoming year is considered. For example, every five years HOAs must conduct (per Virginia law) a replacement reserve study that determines the annual replacement reserve contribution. Thus, a new reserve study will be performed in 2026 and $5,000 is included in this year’s budget. NTRA Committees are also asked to provide input on their anticipated projects for the year. The Landscape Advisory Committee has included a Zoysia grass project for Village Walk in the 2026 budget. 

 

All the input data is carefully considered. A multi-tab EXCEL spreadsheet (developed and updated by Everett Lunsford) is used to assemble the data and perform the calculations creating the General Assessment, the first element of our annual assessments, which spreads the Association’s general expenses across all homes.

 

The second element of our assessments is the Neighborhood Assessment, which our governing documents define for common areas within each neighborhood and certain basic landscaping to lots. Because we have changed our 2026 approach from general landscaping to specific landscape packages that owners may select, the Board decided to move away from neighborhood assessment services and instead use the third element of an assessment - limited common expense assessment - to account for these packages. Similarly, certain Village Walk owners will receive limited common expense charges for inspections if their townhomes have fire suppression systems.  

 

The budget also takes into consideration our home types: townhouse, cottage, and detached single-family home. (For townhomes, middle and end units may see different landscape contract charges.) Annual assessments will vary this year depending on which home type and landscape package an owner has selected leading to a larger matrix of 2026 assessments.

Presentation of Draft Budget to the Community  

 

Once all costs are accounted for, the Association Treasurer, the Finance Committee, and the Community Manager make adjustments resulting in the NTRA draft budget. This draft is then presented to the NTRA Board for their review and approval.

 

Next, this draft budget is posted on the Association’s website for owner review, and a formal budget presentation is made to NTRA owners who can check its accuracy and suggest changes to the Board. The Board will consider the information gathered from the budget meeting and comments, and appropriate revisions may be made to the draft budget.

 

 

The final budget is formally approved by the Board and placed on the Association’s website for dissemination to the community.  But the whole process is not yet concluded. Our management company then inputs the data for each address into its system and has assessment coupon books printed and mailed. Sometime in the middle of the year, the Association Treasurer, Community Manager, and Finance Committee must begin the cycle again to develop next year’s budget.

 

The Finance Committee  

 

The NTRA budgeting process has been difficult for several years without any volunteers serving on the NTRA’s Finance Committee. This absence is concerning for two reasons: it increases the workload of the Board of Directors and it reduces the community’s input during the initial budget development. Also when we piloted a new landscaping approach, the costs for our largest expenditure, landscaping, were unknown until after the start of 2026. However, since our annual meeting we have appointed two volunteers to the Finance Committee, and we have signed two-year landscaping contracts. This should improve our 2027 budget development.

 

 

The NTRA Board of Directors approved the 2026 budget on February 18, 2026 (see NTRA website.) Note: We added more operating reserves in the 2026 approved budget, as compared to the draft January budget, in order to recover some of the ice and snow removal costs from our winter storms. This led to a $40 increase in the general assessment component for all owners.

 

The adjusted quarterly homeowner assessments for the remainder of 2026 (April through December) can be found here.