This update is being divided between business matters strictly for Shelter Bay Company or Shelter Bay Community, Inc.
Shelter Bay Company [holds the master leases, owns the marina facilities and operates the marina]
- The Board of Directors has received an offer of payment terms from the Tribe concerning the back rent of $6.2 million.
- Time is of the essence to finalize an agreement of the payment terms with the Tribe, and the Board is working on this at the moment. It is expected that an agreement will be in place by sometime next week.
- Once an agreement is in place between the Tribe and Shelter Bay Company, a lease amendment reflecting the terms will be required to be approved by the B.I.A.
- As soon as the rent is current, back rent paid in full; the Tribe has stated it will discuss a lease extension and also a different method, other than arbitration, for adjusting the rent.
Shelter Bay Community, Inc. [the homeowners association, and the parent company and owner of Shelter Bay Company]
- The Company is looking to the Community for the funds to assist with the payment of back rent to the Tribe because the Company has very limited revenue sources. Through a Community assessment, it is anticipated that the needed funds will be raised and provided to the Company in order to pay the rent obligation.
- The Board has been meeting almost continuously discussing methods of allocating the back rent in an equitable manner to the homeowners. President Art Young met with staff of the Skagit County Assessor’s office and found: a) assessed values are close to market value because the assessor relies on the excise tax on each sale, which shows the actual sales price of the property, b) the Assessor’s values are audited annually by the State and found to be very accurate, and c) some anomalies in the Assessor’s values are being corrected so that their lots correspond to Shelter Bay’s records. This information is expected by the end of next week.
- The Board has determined it will use the assessed valuation method on all lots without regard to division as the allocation method for distributing the rent due, fee simple lots excluded. As soon as the Assessor’s value revisions have been received by the Board, a schedule will be available in the Office of the back rent due for each lot if it is paid up front. Terms for paying over time are still being developed. The computation formula is:
{(2008 Assessed Land Value for Lot ) divided by (2008 Assessed Land Value for All Lots)} multiplied by $6.2 million = Amount Due. The Board has intensively studied various methods and believes that using 2008 Assessed Land Values is the fairest method for everyone.
- The Board will be holding a Town Meeting on Sunday, April 13th in anticipation of making a decision about holding a Special Election on May 3rd. During the Town Meeting of April 13th we will be discussing the ballot issues (PAY or DEFAULT) and the budget amendments and assessments required.
- During the Board meeting of April 16th the Board will consider the ballot issues and consider calling a Special Election to be held at the same date/time as the Annual Election, May 3rd. Following the mailing of the Special Election packet, another Town Meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 30th.
- The Board expects that if the ballot issues pertaining to the rent are not rejected by the members, the bills will be mailed on May 5, 2008, and collection of the back rent will begin immediately in order to have the money available by mid-June to make the payment.
- The members’ payment terms have not been fully developed yet; however, the Finance Committee has been working on this and is making progress. The Finance Committee is also working on funding sources just in case the members’ upfront payments are not sufficient to cover the amount due on June 30, 2008. We’ll report on this progress as it moves forward.
Thank you for the many suggestions and comments you are sending to the Board. We have attempted to acknowledge all of them and you’ll find them all included in a book in the foyer of the Office for all members to review. This input has been very helpful.
The Board of Directors |
