PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATION

HSB POA Staff Covers Many Bases

By Tom Engler, General Manager

The Horseshoe Bay Property Owners’ Association operates with a small but effective staff. In keeping with modern management philosophies for private corporations, the POA out sources all of the labor and skilled craft work. This allows the POA to manage the day-to-day business with a staff of only three people. This compares with staffs as big as 60 full time people at the Sun City POA in Georgetown to volunteer operations at the smaller POAs in Horseshoe Bay.

There are 9,500 lots in the Horseshoe Bay POA and a similar number in Sun City, as compared to less than 300 in the smaller POAs in Horseshoe Bay. Alyce Duncan is the Administrative Treasurer, Judi Lane is the Administrative Secretary, and I am the General Manager.

The overhead of the POA is considerably lower than a city government doing the same type of work. Employee expenses are only 10% of our costs as opposed to over 30% for the City of Horseshoe Bay.

Tom Engler, General Manager

The General Manager performs all of the normal management functions of the business. This includes enforcing compliance with the covenants and deed restrictions set forth in the Declaration of Reservations, as well as planning, organizing and controlling the many programs of the POA. The GM is responsible for preparing the budgets, estimating the costs of construction work, contracting for services, and ensuring that the POA gets quality work performed at an economical price.

The main programs of the POA are the maintenance of the safety and condition of the extensive road network including the boulevard and entrance landscaping, maintaining and improving the appearance and condition of the parks and grounds of the many POA properties, the deer population management program, the lot clearing and mowing program, the weed and brush control program, litter control, and any other special programs implemented from time to time by the POA Board of Directors. The current mail station project is an example of a recent, comprehensive special program.

The staff of the POA deals with over 30 contractors, at least six departments of the state government, all of the departments of the city and two county governments, the Horseshoe Bay Resort, Horseshoe Bay Maintenance Fund, Architectural Committee, the LCRA, and all of the utility providers for our development.

In addition, there is daily interaction with property owners and residents, both in person and by phone. Alyce and Judi are both Notary Publics and provide that service as a convenience for many of our residents.

Alyce Duncan, Administrative Treasurer

All of the POA accounting is done in-house. Alyce has kept the books for companies for over 40 years. She sends out over 2,000 invoices to individual property owners on an annual basis for services performed by the POA. She prepares monthly financial reports for the review of the board as well as handling all accounts payable and accounts receivable. She prepares and maintains all payroll and payroll reports and all local, state and federal reports. Alyce also maintains property owner information and handles the bookkeeping for The Cape, Inc. through this office.

The POA sent out nearly 1,000 letters of deed restriction violations in the last year. Judi managed that effort and keeps diligent track of all of our correspondence. Judi came to the POA with many years of office management experience.

Judi Lane, Administrative Secretary

Judi is in charge of the annual publication of the Horseshoe Bay phone book which includes not only residential white pages but yellow page advertising as well. She also coordinates the website, Quail Point rentals, and all POA meetings. Judi works with property owners in their purchases of crypts and niches, and maintains all owner information, deeds, and accounting records for the Horseshoe Bay Memorial Association.

The written correspondence that the POA sends to property owners represents only a tiny portion of the communication routinely handled by the staff. The POA staff interacts with board members, property owners, realtors, contractors, vendors, public entities, and others via the telephone, through email, or directly in person on thousands of occasions throughout the year.

Our goal is not only to perform the duties and responsibilities of our jobs, but to always take the time to graciously discuss any issue which is brought to our attention by anyone who calls or visits our offices at Quail Point. Our office is open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Drop by for a visit and a cup of coffee.

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