The Three Questions

On April 10, 2024, a list of 3 multi-part questions was sent to CJ Cook. CJ had requested that a group of homeowners come up with a list of 3 of the most important questions and he would look into them. At a Special Meeting of Harvest Creek HOA on July 10, 2024, CJ Cook reported to the members that he had spent countless hours and is not really making heads or tails of the financials but insisted that there are no discrepancies.

For reference here are the 3 questions that were sent to CJ Cook.

Once the financials were finally accessed, it took about 3-4 hours to completely review the 3 questions and find the answers below.

1. Bank Account Balance Answers:

Bank Balances:

Date	From Statements	Really in the Bank
December 31, 2021	C: $28,382.62, S: $30,000.00	C: $26,817.61, S: $30,007.66
November 9, 2022	C: $22,407.23, S: $60,018.88	C: $52,477.23, S: $30,018.88
June 30, 2023	C: $45,262.74, S: $80,253.82	C: $45,262.74, S: $80,253.82
March 7, 2024	Combined about: $150,000	Combined: $145,718.71

Here are some other dates verified

Date	From Statements	Really in the Bank
December 21, 2020	C: $20,362.13, S: $0.00	C: $42,769.22, S: $0.00
October 4, 2021	C: $15,469.99, S: $50,000.00	C: $9,824.21, S: $40,003.23

A bank account balance is a very simple thing to report. You simply pick a date and copy the number. At no time within 30 days +/- of when the balances are reported is the actual balance in the bank equal to what is reported to the homeowners. The amount might only be off by $1000, but how upset would you be if you found out you had $1000 less in the bank than what the bank was reporting to you in your monthly statements.

At the annual meeting in 2021 the budget that was sent out shows that Harvest Creek HOA put $20,000 in Savings in 2019 and put $30,000 in Savings in 2020. For a net total of $50,000 in Savings at the end of 2020.  Why was there no money in the savings at the end of 2020?  Then in 2021, the budgets show that Harvest Creek HOA put another $30,000 into savings.  For a total of $80,000 in total in Savings by the end of 2021.  But account balances only show $30k in savings and $26K in Checking.  So where did the $30k go?

2. Landscaping and Groundskeeping Answers:

Date	From P&Ls	Spent from the Bank
2019	$50,016.00	$63,683.47
2020	$82,433.00	$62,710.86
2021	$55,303.92	$34,208.72
2022	$21,699.23	$30,281.42
2023	$22,535.00	$29,645.30

The reported landscaping numbers do not match up with the actual money that was spent from the bank, with the numbers either being drastically under reported or over reported.  The amount spent from the bank is in line with what it should be costing with 2021 being about half the cost of 2020 after the City of Bozeman took over the parks.  

The money from the city was never used for anything other than being deposited into the account as a reimbursement for monies already spent.  The city reimbursed $49,562.72 making our total spent on lawn care in 2020 only $13,148.14. Which bring up the question, if it only cost $13k to mow the boulevards and trails in 2020 why does it now cost $30k each year for the same spaces?

The accounts however did not increase by almost $50k.  To explain where the money went you need to look at what else money was spent on following getting the reimbursement from the City of Bozeman.

In 2020, it was reported that Harvest Creek spent $10,800.73 planting and pruning trees, when in actuality $19,788.86 was spent on planting and pruning trees.

In 2021 it was reported that Harvest Creek spent $14,823.00 planting and pruning trees, when in actuality $30,690.49 was spent on planting and pruning trees.

Then in 2021 shortly after the city money was received, the HOA got additional bills from Saddle Peak Properties for paying late fees and filing liens that never happened for upwards of $10,000.  Most of the park’s reimbursement money left the account over time to other vendors or to Saddle Peak Properties.

3. Stormwater Maintenance Answers:

Date	From P&Ls	Spent from the Bank
2020	$0.00	$0.00
2021	$3,051	$3,051
2022	$0.00	$0.00
2023	$7,740	$7,740

None of the park’s reimbursement money ($49,562.72) was ever used to pay directly for stormwater maintenance.  Why would Lindsay Freitas and Barbara Pastine state that the money was used for the stormwater maintenance when only $3k was spent in 2021.

Why is maintenance not being done annually if Ms. Frietas is stating that we must do annual maintenance?

The City of Bozeman Stormwater manger has stated that the city does not keep records of how or when HOAs do stormwater maintenance, and it is in fact the HOAs responsibility to keep those records and to periodically have the ponds inspected.

It is actually mandated by Bozeman Municipal Code Sec. 40.04.720 that Harvest Creek is required to create and maintain records of all maintenance of stormwater facilities. So, these records should be easy to find and get from Saddle Peak Properties if they are following the law.

The real questions you need to ask yourself is:

• Why are all of the numbers that are being reported to homeowners so far off from what is really in the bank or being spent?

• Why does the Harvest Creek Board of Directors continue to refuse to create a financial oversight committee?

• Why has the Harvest Creek Board of Directors always insisted that everything is fine?