By Sam Richards

Staff writer

In a move expected to lower the RWC portion of the residential coupon by $9 or $10 a month, the RWC Board approved moving the annual RWC Facility and Property Maintenance budget ‒ along with the current balance of about $486,000 in the Facility Maintenance Expense Operating Fund ‒ from the RWC operating fund to its capital fund.

In a related move, the Board deferred a possible increase of the Membership Transfer Fee, paid by all first-time homebuyers into Rossmoor. It is scheduled to jump from $13,500 to $14,000 on Jan. 1 but increases to $16,000 and $18,000 were discussed over the past two weeks. The Board opted for further discussion of the MTF amount by the committees.

Money collected from the MTF fees goes to pay for Rossmoor capital projects, like buildings, major infrastructure projects and significant equipment purchases. Raising the MTF is expected to help make up for the estimated $850,000 the above-described Facility and Property Maintenance budget move is expected to lose under the new arrangement.

The RWC Facility and Property Maintenance budget covers projects that qualify more as repairs or general maintenance ‒ examples include slurry seal treatments on streets, painting or staining, utility maintenance and tree maintenance, Rossmoor General Manager Jeff Matheson said.

These two actions ‒ the budgeting shift and a prospective MTF increase ‒ taken together are expected to shift more maintenance funding responsibility away from the RWC portion of residential coupon and beef up income from the Membership Transfer Fee. In broader terms, some money that has so far been paid on an ongoing monthly basis will now be paid by new residents one time up front, as the MTF is essentially part of the purchase price of a condo or co-op unit. As Matheson put it, more of residents’ financial pain will come at move-in time, and less of it on an ongoing monthly basis.

Or as Finance Committee member David Jennings put it, “The monthly charges … I really think more people are concerned about that.” Two days before the Board approved these changes, the RWC Finance Committee had recommended them. On Thursday, Board member Janet Seldon applauded such a move to reduce the coupon as “fantastic.”

This budgeting switch was reviewed by an auditing firm and Rossmoor’s legal counsel for compliance with RWC governing documents, including its Trust Agreement.

That switch and the MTF hike recommendations were approved by the Finance Committee on a 5-2 vote. Chairman Dan Ring and member Cheryl Hines voted no; Hines said she didn’t welcome getting these proposals so close to Sept. 9 and 10, when the annual joint RWC Board-Finance Committee 2026 budget hearings are scheduled.

“Actually, I feel really jammed by this whole thing showing up now,” she said. Matheson acknowledged this two-sided proposal did arrive at “the 11th hour,” but that taking these actions last week ensured 2026 budgeting can be done using the new numbers.

Matheson suggested that raising the MTF to $18,000 would likely have provided enough capital funding to get good starts on major renovation projects at Dollar Clubhouse, the Hillside main building and locker rooms and a new amphitheater. But that increase was seen by Finance Committee members as too steep, and Adrian Byram proposed the $2,000 increase to $16,000 after Jan. 1.

The increase in the MTF is also seen as helping combat a downward trend in home sales in Rossmoor (and most other American locations), Matheson said.

The Board also approved increasing the income from another fee, the former Facilities Use Fee (now the Lessee Amenities Fee). That fee is paid by residents living in a Rossmoor manor they lease from its owner, in lieu of the monthly coupon. The Board decided unanimously to raise that fee in 2026 from $112 to $145 a month, based on a formula that ties the amount to the monthly coupon, and keeps the revenue generated in the operating budget.