My Explanation
My explanation for Mary's claim of additional responsibilities is based my observations from the day she was hired and for approximately the next five years until I left the Board. During this time, Mary was evaluated according to the annual review for hourly wage increase and bonus.
Many of the additional responsibilities Mary describes were approved by the Board because it added hours and, therefore, pay. The connection of these added benefits for Mary became an issue when she attempts to compare these duties to site management duties in her email.
See if you agree with my explanation and let me know.
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 10:53 AM
Subject: Update
Hi Board – as some of you already know, I started a property management company a few years ago. I am fully incorporated and insured.
Mary, your bi-weekly check reads Mustang Property Services, Inc. for $1191.00. This is every 2 weeks including when you are on vacation. Pay for the year is $30,966.00 – for a part time JOB!
• Why is there no contract with your corporation?
• Why are there no invoices from your corporation?
• Why is there no certificate of insurance showing the necessary types of insurance specified by our boilerplate contract?
• Does the lack of a contract, lack of invoices from your corporation and no insurance certificate on file mean you could legally be an employee? Why were you paid (Jan 28, 2011, check 2433) a bonus for 2010 in the amount $750.00 recorded on the ledger as office expense? All these facts point to a plausible fine by the IRS for the association not declaring you an employee and making us liable to pay all the appropriate taxes.
• You mention (later in my explanation) you meet with the auditor annually. It appears, from the records available, that this is a continuing practice not to include the bonus in compensation. Why did the auditor not comment on this procedure? Could the IRS hold the association liable for showing this as a reimbursed expense instead of as compensation? What did the 1099, that you fill out, show for all these years?
Management Duties
Over the past few years my business is steadily growing, and I’ve realized that though this association is considered to be self-managed, there is nothing that I do for other Associations that I don’t to for this association.
Mary, why do you compare the annual salary we pay you to the services of a management company that others pay you? To my knowledge, we compensate you an annual salary and pay that amount to you thru your company Mustang Property Services, Inc. As far as I, and I hope the community believe, YOU are the one hired not your company. Why do you consider we have hired your company? If your property management company, Mustang Property Services, Inc., will be hired then we cross the line from part time employee to Management Company and the homeowners must vote for the change.
Hourly vs Salary Compensation
When I first started here, it was as a part time office manager and my responsibilities were minimal (see Annual Review), but over the years I have assumed additional responsibilities for which I am not compensated. Some examples are:
The initial reason you have additional responsibilities was to allow you additional pay when you were working on an hourly basis. You made deposits at the bank, instead of the Treasurer, since you explained the bank was on your route home and it would not be a problem. Since this saved the time and effort and you were able to glean more hours the practice started.*
The fact is your compensation for the additional time to complete all the additional responsibilities you volunteered to do was your job security. The decision (by whom?) to write your paycheck to Mustang Property Services, Inc, did not constitute hiring a property management company. You are now treating services to BRKCA as a management contract that you now want additional compensation for a changed scope of work. There was never a contract (only an annual review from approximately 10 years ago) to specify your duties for which you are now paid. As you should know, when there is additional responsibility to the original the scope of a contract, the contractor must notify the client there is an extra charge and receive approval before the additional responsibility (work) starts. You have performed the additional work for a contract that does not exist and now want compensation?
The website this page will appear (construction) has that information shown which is a standard practice for all contracts not just construction.
Recreation – when I was hired, the Recreation director was fully responsible for overseeing the pool, issuing pool passes, serving as point of contact, etc. I had absolutely nothing to do with the pool. Currently, I am the primary point of contact, I process pool passes from May through July, I oversee the bathroom cleaning (and even do it myself when necessary). I meet pool companies and review and revise our contracts with them as necessary. This is become part of my job for the past 10 years.
Mary, about 10 years ago you volunteered (additional responsibility) to assist the recreation director (when you worked Saturdays) with the pool passes then, also, volunteered to process the passes on weekdays. If you recall, passes are authorized to residents (most times also renters) if the residents are property owners, do not owe the association any money, have corrected all violations and pay the pool fee. You furnished the current information to the recreation director/committee and collected the fees for deposit. You volunteered for this, since you were already on site, and carried this portion of work for the last 10 years. Why is this now “EXTRA”?
In addition, while you were working during the week and the recreation director could not contact the pool management company, you spoke with the lifeguard on duty as well as contacted the Company. Either you walked out of your office or you made a phone call! Is this the Additional responsibility?
It is the Board President’s job to meet with pool companies and to review or revise the contracts. Your job would be to type the changes as directed. At a recent meeting you stated that you would be meeting with the pool company not that the President directed you to, you just proclaimed the fact. The reason changing the contract could not be your additional responsibility since it is a board vote that authorizes the changes not you.
Capital Improvements – Over the years we have had some significant projects completed in the community and I have served as the primary coordinator and point of contact for all of them. This is not at all in my job description. I’ve been the point of contact for paving, pool repair, street lights, pot holes, PECO issues, bee removal, tree service, stickering and removing vehicles. I’ve also assumed full responsibility for many financial issues that the first Treasurer used to do – taking deposits to the bank, preparing the annual budget, meeting with the auditor.
I do not understand you “served as the primary coordinator and point of contact” for these projects. Our significant construction projects should have our engineer hired to ensure the work is complete as described in the scope of work. Construction crews should have their own portable toilet, so what is your function as point of contact?
Each of the items you mention:
• Paving, were you to contact either the vehicle owner or a towing company to remove cars parked in the way of construction? Is your additional responsibility you making a phone call?
• Pool repair: were you to open the pool area, community center and pump room to give the workers access?
• Potholes: were you to contact a construction company to have potholes (potholes or sinkholes) repaired? Is your additional responsibility you making a phone call to coordinate the work be done?
• Streetlights: were you to contact the electrician for problems with the lights we own on our private streets, or, PECO for problems with the rented lights on public road to make repairs? You work during the day and request we report the pole numbers to you. Is your additional responsibility you making a phone call?
• Bee removal: we have two or three property owners who specialize in pest control. Is your additional responsibility you spraying the bees or making a phone call?
• Tree service: Is your additional responsibility you making a phone call?
• Sticker and removing vehicles: why would you place a sticker on a vehicle rather than a Board member? You have described the process as a follow up to a complaint for an illegally parked car or, on occasion, an expired registration when you would contact the Caln Township police or the towing company after the required number of days had passed. Is your additional responsibility you making a phone call? Oops, that’s right, now that you are salaried it must be time for you to cut back on the amount of time you spend for the association?
• Treasurer: I am (was) the Treasurer of the Board.
You
“take deposits to the bank” instead of the Treasurer since you
explained the bank was on your route home and it would not be a
problem. Since this enabled you to glean more hours for additional
pay, the practice continued. Now that you are salaried, is this a burden since you do not receive additional pay?
o Your
preparation of the annual budget includes clerical data entry and the press of a computer key
for a report titled “Profit & Loss Budget Overview”.
In addition, the budget we are now working with monthly shows only
the year to date for both costs and income and the yearly budget
amount without a monthly breakout. After 10 years you would have
been able to hone a useable monthly budget. In order to demand pay as a manager you have to demonstrate the skills of a manager, not just a data entry clerk!
o You explained 10 years ago that meeting with the auditor was to furnish the records necessary for the accountant to perform an audit. The accounting firm had instructions for the type of audit to perform when the Board first contracted the auditor. This year you mentioned that YOU would be meeting with the accountant and you never mentioned there was any need for me to attend to watch you give the records to the accountant since instructions for the audit are complete. Oops, that’s right, now that you are salaried it must be time for you to cut back on the amount of time you spend or, better, embellish the task to demand more money for another clerical task of handling records?
Collections – when I first started with this association, the attorney used to file the civil complaints and liens. Over the years I have assumed this responsibility because it saves the Association money.
You do save the association money by acting as a lawyer. Again, allowing you to continue this practice permits you to glean more hours. Is it time you stopped acting as a lawyer and leave this work for professionals? Oops, that’s right, now that you are salaried it must be time for you to cut back on the amount of time you spend or, better, embellish the task to demand more money for another clerical task!
Landscaping – I have been the primary point of contact and coordinator for all landscaping and snow removal issues for more than 10 years. Again – not my job.
Again, allowing you to continue this practice (making a phone call) permits you to glean more hours. Oops, that’s right, now that you are salaried it must be time for you to cut back on the amount of time you spend or, better, embellish the task to demand more money for another clerical task
Emailing – this did not exist when I first started working here yet now it consumes several hours every week. I check them several times a day – EVERY DAY! Otherwise I couldn't keep up with them and I'd spend all of my office time reading and responding to emails.
Please show an email log.
Mileage reimbursement – I was authorized mileage reimbursement over 10 years ago for my trips to purchase supplies, to go to the bank to drop off deposits, to real estate agents to drop off resale packets, to the Notary’s office to notarize lien removals, to District Court for hearings and to drop off civil complaints, to the post office to buy stamps and drop off mailouts. I haven’t requested reimbursement for many years (my fault, I know).
I also want to point out that the former office manager (who left in 1997) was paid $20,675 for her last full year here as well as a $30 biweekly “uniform allowance” and received health benefits for her family at a cost to the Association of $5,708 per year. PLUS she had a maintenance department on site to handle things for the community. Her pay and benefits almost equal what I am paid 15 years later.
This smacks of an attitude the self employed just never use - entitlement. The primary reason the former office manager left is she quit. I attended the unemployment compensation hearing to deny her any payments. The association won and no payments were made to the EMPLOYEE.
In addition, her favorite status faded when a large number of her supporters left the Board. The Board decided to hire an independent contractor:
- Eliminate the costly taxes and benefits and make it easier to 'let-go' any new contractor hired.
- Hire an efficient contractor who did not need 30 hours a week to do 12 hours worth of work.
Developing a system to be more efficient and save money is the purpose of management for any business. This association is a business not the federal government that prints its own money. This association has a sizable budget and manages the community as set forth in the Declarations and Covenants then adopted and expanded in the Bylaws. The fact we have a healthy reserve fund is not license for the Board to act as spendthrifts.
The August 30, 2011 meeting will tell me if the members of the community feel the same.
I could go on and on but you get the idea. My point is that I suggest to the Board that I be compensated accordingly for the job I do, or I continue at my current salary and only assume responsibility for what I was hired to do. This has weighed heavily on me for quite some time and I should have addressed it long ago. For now just think about this and I’ll address it again at a later date. Thanks.
This email arrived after I addressed Mary as “the hired help”. Therefore, this email from Mary, as well as the President LaVerne’s email, is in defense of my email. Mary’s email Friday 7-29-11 and LaVerne’s email Monday 8-03-11 made me wonder as to the direction of the Board by using Mary’s Mustang Property Services, Inc. responsibilities as the basis for additional compensation. Add an additional fact that Mary’s bi-weekly paychecks are to Mustang Property Services, Inc. and the appearance is compensation for Mary is criteria based on property management services.
Return from My Explanation to Additional Responsibilities
