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New Proposal for EV Chargers at Laurel Mews

The HOA has received a proposal for installation of leased EV chargers.  The idea is that the HOA would lease the chargers but pay for the electrical upwork and the installation/provisioning.  The HOA would basically then  be in the vehicle energy business for residents.  That is, we would draw power from Dominion that we’d have to pay for, plus our leasing charges, etc.  Then we’d have to figure out our pricing to meet our revenue target. The system would work via phone app where users would schedule a charging time and pay for how many kW-hrs that they need.

The vendor has two models available.  One has a fancier display screen, but both work the same.

Option -1 Model AC5500Charger Details

Option -2 Model ACLF-22100Charger Details

Background on Atlas General Contractors

There is still a lot of information to develop regarding how much charging capacity do we need, what is our time horizon to break even, and how to manage the business process,  and to do more due diligence on developing alternative bids.  So to be clear this is not a project that necessarily slated to be executed any time soon.  There is still a lot to work through.

Please be sure to read owner feedback/comments.

Doubts about EVs and EV Chargers – Unobtainium

1. I’m essentially a social libertarian, meaning I don’t care what car a person chooses to drive, the color of their hair or skin, whether they eat meat or not, or whatever. I have no bias against anyone wishing to drive an electric vehicle.

2. Also being libertarian in my thinking, I believe I shouldn’t be expected to pay for someone else’s choices. Meaning, I shouldn’t be asked and expected to pay for an electric charging station that is of no benefit to me. Let the people who drive electric vehicles pay for it.

3. I have 2 PhDs, I hold patents in molecular physics, I’m an engineer, professor, scientist and physicist. And I’ve designed nearly 1,000 water and energy utility based systems in my 50 year career.

4. The highest total cost per mile driven with any vehicle over the roads is with electric vehicles.

5. The highest total environmental damage per mile driven with any vehicle is with electric vehicles.

6. My partner, Tonya Nichols, PhD, is an ST at EPA headquarters, liaison to the White House and the National Security Council, and a year ago before she passed it off to someone else to take on two other national initiatives, was in charge of EPA’s “Critical Minerals” national initiative. She said the damage to the environment from mining lithium is and will be unimaginable. And the mineral resources are very limited in the United States, meaning we must rely on foreign countries for production of future batteries. And the environmental disposal costs will also be significant with the extent yet to be determined.

7. Please see this video regarding this issue: Unobtanium.

David J. Rigby, PhD, PE
LM Owner

What we learned at 1st Informal Community Meeting re EV Chargers

EVs stand to change the relationship that people have with commuting, touring, where and from whom they buy their vehicle energy.

Currently 92% of daily EV charging occurs at home or work. 3 out of 4 DC-area residents say they would strongly consider a plug-in EV for their next vehicle. 82% of those say that having access to a home or workplace charging is a top priority. Access to L2 fast-charging is the single biggest factor leading to EV owner satisfaction.

Virginia has a ‘Right to Charge Law‘ that requires associations to permit electric vehicle charging unless the CC&Rs prohibit it.  Of course our CC&Rs were written back when consumer EVs where not contemplated.  Yet there are still implications that maybe are covered, and navigating those contours will be the subject of court cases in the next few years for sure.

One issue would be how to accommodate owners that want a dedicated EV charger attached to their unit, but whose said units are far from the parking lot.  That scenario presents an engineering challenge.   It turns out that there are viable engineering solutions for owners of units that are far from the parking lot to have their own dedicated L2 unit. Those solutions would be very expensive for a single owner, but nevertheless possible from an engineering standpoint.

As for community chargers, there are many product options for semi-private EV chargers. Some EV chargers have smaller physical sizes than others. The smaller ones might be more desirable for parking spaces where space is more constrained.

The HOA leasing EV chargers instead of buying them might be an attractive option. Leasing in general cuts initial costs. There’s a general business adage that says, ‘Lease a depreciating asset, buy an appreciating asset.’  Any given EV charger model would certainly depreciate, require periodic repair/replacement, and certainly suffer from technical obsolescence.

For us, leasing might allow us to shift funding from acquisition of the chargers themselves, to provisioning of infrastructure. That is, we might be more able to run upworked electrical infrastructure more extensively throughout the property such that more parking spots can be EV charger ready.  In addition to along the Exxon wall, the Langston Blvd wall is a viable location for chargers, as is the area to the right of the Washington Blvd entrance. Again small profile chargers might be attractive for parking spaces where the walkways make for a tight space constraints.

Post installation, the HOA would probably become the primary source of residents’ vehicle fuel. That is, the HOA would become like a gas station. As Dominion Power would bill the HOA, the HOA would in turn have to figure how and how much to bill individuals for usage. Controlled, multi-user, metered-access capability is what separates single-home dedicated L2 chargers from semi-private chargers, and explains their 10-fold cost difference.  EV chargers come with various methods of controlled access, physical keys, physical cards, coded-access, all with or without phone apps.

Our next steps are to gather more cost data. This spreadsheet is a model of when might a purchase contract might be executed. That is, given a certain upfront cost in today’s dollars, what savings would be necessary to afford the installation given a certain phasing schedule, inflation rate, and fund interest rate. You can play around with any of the parameters and assumptions. There spreadsheet could/should be a lot more complicated if the payments to some fund were made quarterly instead of annually. It could/should include post-installation maintenance as well as operational profit/loss from charging itself.

Of course, leasing would be a completely different scenario, of which we do not have a financial plan as yet.

Types and Costs of EV Chargers

EV chargers are categorized in several ways, e.g., by the connection type and by the time it takes to fully charge a vehicle, and by private home installed or semi-private access, metered chargers.

So called Level 1 chargers charge via a normal 120 V household electrical socket.  There are cables that apparently come with the vehicle from the manufacturer.

There are Level 2 charges that themselves come in two main types,  ones for private use, say for individual homes, and ones for semi-private (community) use.  The latter is what a community association like Laurel Mews would primarily be considering, though we do have a few owners for whom a private L2 charger might be a practical solution.  The main thing about L2 chargers is that they require electrical capacity that’s upworked from what’s normally in homes, and for sure from our outdoor lighting circuit.

There is another level, Level 3, aka fast-chargers , which as of 2022 are still super-expensive.

Semi-private L2 chargers are the ones you might see at grocery stores or strip malls, and more and more at rest stops along interstate highways. (Some of those might be L3 chargers.)   In our situation, what seems likely is that we would install L2 chargers along the Exxon wall.  They would be connected to an upworked electrical junction box near the shed at 6711-I.  Each vehicle charge would somehow be metered such that each user would have some kind of card or code so to capture individual use for back-billing.  The chargers would thus have to be somehow connected via telephony, broadband, or satellite communications.

Cost estimates run ~$20k for the electrical upworking, and $15-20k for each charger.  So if we got 3 chargers (6 charging stations) today, the cost estimate would be ~$80k.

(Private L2 chargers are a lot less expensive, depending on how much electrical upworking you might require.)

There is a lot to consider before any decisions get made.  Dedicating spots for EV charging might be a bit much, and some of those parking spaces might be needed for disabled spaces going forward.  There are a few other issues in the law that stand to be tested in state and federal courts.

We would have to start thinking about how to finance the project.  Just off-hand, if this community was to implement this project for 2036 (when major manufacturers say they’ll be selling only EVs) then we as a community would have to start saving maybe ~$6400 per year ($120 per owner), assuming we can get an above-inflation interest rate on the fund, and that cost accelerations are normal at 3-4%.

But fourteen years from now is a long time, and we can expect EV charger technology and economics to turnover several times.

References

ChargeHub

EV Charging for Common Interest Communities

Tesla – Home Charging

Nextdoor EVs Group

Informal Community Meeting re Electric Vehicle Chargers

Informal Community Meeting re Electric Vehicle Chargers
Saturday, December 3rd, 9-11a
Café Kindred, 450 N Washington St Ste F, Falls Church, VA 22046

Over the last few years several neighbors have asked about having electric vehicle (EV) chargers here at Laurel Mews.  A few years ago, one of our neighbors came to the HOA with a plan to install a personal EV charger, which they implemented last year.

Their situation works because their parking space is literally just outside of their front door.  There are other units that could conceivably do the same, e.g., along the 6711, 6701 rows, maybe 1 or 2 of the 6703 units as well as behind the 6712 row.  But there are others, e.g., most of the 6704, 6707 and 6708 units, and probably all the 6705 ones, where it is probably impossible to have an L2 chargers at the individual units.  The cable span would be very long and very likely would have to be installed underground.

As you may know, Virginia has a new ‘right to charge’ law that gives individual owners in an HOA the right to make an EV charger installation, if they are willing to cover the cost, and if easement and encroachment issues can be worked out with the HOA; two or three big ifs.  Now with EVs getting more and more popular, many community associations like ours (and including ours) are looking into semi-private community EV chargers.

We are lucky here at LM to have a neighbor (Joseph Sigwarth) that works for an EV charger provider (LVL2 https://www.lvl2charging.com/).  Joseph has agreed to have an open information session with the community on this Saturday, December 3rd, at 9a at Cafe Kindred (http://www.cafekindred.com/) to discuss the current EV charger market, and how individuals and communities can get into it.

Joseph will offer some insight as to engineering solutions for units that are far from the parking lot, as well as what would be involved in installing charging stations in our common areas for semi-private use.

You can find more information about EV chargers here at our website as well as any number of other sites.  Fairfax County has a nice site on the subject,

Should the exterior trim colors at Laurel Mews be updated?

Laurel Mews has long adhered to this scheme of exterior trim colors, which was apparently agreed to in the 1980s.   Should we update the color schemes to include new colors, and/or allow owners to switch colors?   

Why do we even have rules on approved trim colors? 

— Turns out conformity increases values
— Turns out color can effect marketing and consumer behavior

http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2012/02/individuality-conformity-and-your-home.html

http://architecture.about.com/cs/paint/ht/pickpaint.htm

http://ares.metapress.com/content/7287545q86306108/

What are some new ideas of LM trim colors

http://www.arlingtoncolorconsultants.com/

http://www.valsparpaint.com/en/explore-colors/find-ideas/styles/contemporary/contemporary-homes-2.html

http://www.bluedoorpainters.com/2012/11/01/how-do-i-get-curb-appeal/

http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/exteriors/curb-appeal/best-exterior-house-color-schemes/

http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/exteriors/curb-appeal/tips-for-exterior-trim-colors/

http://www.houzz.com/pro/paintedroom/the-painted-room

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/03/28/exterior-paint-colors-that-sell/

http://www.houzz.com/pictures-of-exterior-house-paint-colors

http://www.myperfectcolor.com/

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/color-your-home-for-curb-appeal

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/3004543/list/How-to-Work-With-a-Color-Consultant

http://www.bluedoorpainters.com/2013/07/12/painting-arlington-va-the-colors-of-arlington-va/

http://www.digginfladirt.com/what-to-do-when-the-hoa-requires-a-landscaping-makeover/

http://olgerfallaspainting.com/exterior-house-colors-increase-value-home/

Landscaping

— Landscaping has similar effects

http://www.hriresearch.org/docs/publications/JEH/JEH_2005/JEH_2005_23_3/JEH%2023-3-127-133.pdf

Homeowners Insurance, the HOA, and You

Our community bylaws and rules require each unit to be covered by an HO-3 or HO-5 policy for full replacement value.  Often consumers are only insured for the actual cash value.  Actual cash value is the value of the home considering its age and depreciation.  Actual cash value payout may not be enough to totally rebuild your unit.  Being insured for only the actual cash value would be a violation of Laurel Mews bylaws.

We have information that a few owners have had difficulty refinancing, perhaps because they had the wrong form of insurance, i.e., an HO-6 instead of HO-3.  HO-6 policies are for condominiums where the individual owners do not own the exterior and roof of their respective units or the entire building.  Although Laurel Mews is organized under the Virginia Condominium Act, and used to refer to itself as the Laurel Mews Condominium Association, unit ownership is ‘fee simple’.  Each owner owns their exterior walls, roof, and all the way down to the lowest plane of the foundation slab.  An HO-6 policy would not be appropriate for a Laurel Mews owner.  In fact it would be wholly inadequate, leaving major parts of the unit uncovered.  So again please make sure you have an HO-3 (or HO-5) policy.

Although HO-3 will be stated to include open perils protection, actually many if not most policies exclude certain types of damage, including damage caused by law (problems caused by a lack of proper permits), earth movement (earthquakes), water damage (floods), power failure, neglect, war, nuclear accidents, and intentional loss.  For these you will need specific endorsements, or additional polices, e.g., National Flood Insurance Program.  

Laurel Mews owners should have the ‘Laurel Mews, A Townhouse Condominium’ listed as an ‘Additional Insured’ entity.  This will not add any extra cost to your policy.  But it will help protect the HOA in case of a loss involving your unit.

How Laurel Mews Can Save $5K per year

Since 1994, all showerheads have been required to use no more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute (gpm), less than half that of many older models.  You can check to see how much your shower head uses by timing how long it takes to fill up a one gallon bucket.  If it takes less than 24 seconds, you might consider replacing it with a newer model.

But there are even 1.5 gpm showerheads available.  Below are some options available through Ayers Hardware, which will offer Laurel Mews owners a measure of incentive pricing. 

The water+sewage rate in Arlington County is $12.61 per thousand gallons.  So reducing water usage by 1 gpm per shower translates into a $45 savings per resident per year, which would pay for the showerhead and its installation in less than 2 years.  Our community would save nearly $5,000 per year, which is 10% of our total water bill, and 5% of our total operating budget.   

This is just one way to save water.  There are many others

— Lawrence

1.  Ecoflow Handheld Shower 1.5gpm
Model #VBE453
Order #5492707
Price $31.99
3-1/4 round shower head, advanced optiflow technology, easy clean nozzles, 5 ft. faux metal hose, water pause toggle switch. Spray modes: Full body coverage, Pulsating massage, Full body/massage combination.

2.  1.5 Gpm Showerhead W/Push Btn.
Model #USB4C
Order #9707704
Price $12.99
Small, water saving shower with pressure compensating technology that provides consistent 1.5 GPM flow rate from 30 to 80 psi. Shower is a conical spray pattern of perfectly sized droplets for a forceful, invigorating and very wet feeling shower spray. Available with or without push button trickle valve. Saves over 20 percent more than other water saving showers, complies with all Water Sense guidelines for water and energy conservation. Made in the USA of solid brass and chrome plated, Installs easily with standard 1/2″ female threads.

3.  Water Pik Showersaver White
Model #ICA-111HE
Order #4629143
Price $7.99
Fully adjustable spray, 1.5 gpm average flow.

 
Water Pik Showersaver Shower Head, White 1.5 GPM

4. 1.5 Gpm Ultra Saver Showerhead
Model #USB3C
Order #6292197
Price $9.99
Small, water saving shower with pressure compensating technology that provides consistent 1.5 GPM flow rate from 30 to 80 psi. Shower is a conical spray pattern of perfectly sized droplets for a forceful, invigorating and very wet feeling shower spray. Available with or without push button trickle valve. Saves over 20 percent more than other water saving showers, complies with all Water Sense guidelines for water and energy conservation. Made in the USA of solid brass and chrome plated, Installs easily with standard 1/2″ female threads.

 5.  3 Mode, Fixed Mount, 1.5 GPM Ecoflow Shower Head
Model #VBE-423
Order #115391
Price $19.99
Offers Stylish Design With A Variety Of Spray Settings, Same Ultimate Shower Experience For Waterpik Low Flow Shower Heads, All Without Wasting A Drop Of Money Or Water.

6.  Delta, Chrome, 1.5 GPM Maximum Flow Shower Head
Model #75155
Order #482125
Price $11.99
Operates On 1.5 Gallons Per Minute, 40% Water Savings Versus Standard Shower Heads, 4 Large Spray Jets Provide Full-Body Coverage. Stylish On The Outside – Revolutionary Technology On The Inside, Shower Head Technology: Increases The Water’s Velocity To Enhance Spray Performance And Maintain Temperature, Maximizes Performance At Lower Water Pressures And Precisely Angles Spray For Full Body Coverage.

 

 

To take advantage of Ayers’ pricing please email ayersvariety (at) hotmail.com and put “shower head order” in the subject line or call the store at 703-538-5678.

How Will Adjacent Development Affect Our Home Values?

News that the Exxon and Verizon land parcels are in play for development into high-density apartment homes has many Laurel Mews owners concerned about the impact on their home values and community living.   Homeowners close to proposed high-density apartment development often argue that the development will  intensify traffic problems, lower home values, overcrowd schools and harm the environment.  

There is considerable research that indicates that few if any of these concerns are well-placed.  The Laurel Mews HOA has looked at an extensive body of commentary and research in the areas of land use and real estate economics.  Most of the information points to the conclusion that adjacent development will have a net positive effect on our home values and community living.  A study completed by former Virginia Tech Professor Arthur C. Nelson, concluded that over the long run, well-placed market-rate apartments with attractive design and landscaping actually increases the overall value of detached houses nearby.  Importantly for Arlington County, where the school system is busting at the seams, high end apartment homes do not necessarily lead to more families with children and additional burdens on local schools.

Considering the Verizon parcel, the research is clear; vacant lots take away from the attractiveness of a neighborhood, and replacing vacant land with land that contributes human and economic activity is overwhelmingly positive for the local community.   Having well-managed housing adjacent to yours is indisputably a net positive.  What is being contemplated for the Verizon parcel is a mid-rise apartment building with mostly market-rate rent.  Research has indicated that renters do not necessarily bring down financial or livability values in adjacent owner-occupied housing.  Moreover, research has shown that that in an unconstrained rental market, nearby house prices will accelerate.

Adjacent development increases the desirability of an area.  Accumulation of investment equity in our particular area beyond the housing itself, i.e., I-66, the Orange and Silver lines and whatever retail, will accelerate already rising demand in Arlington County.  Greater investment in our area, especially in medium to high density housing, is a tax revenue bonanza, and thus can place moderating effects on marginal property tax rates for the rest of us.

Basic economic reasoning would suggest that increasing housing supply in Arlington County would tend to drive down prices.  Arlington County already has low housing inventory, and supply is struggling to meet demand.   Arlington County needs to increase supply as an affordability policyAffordable housing  has been shown to have a weak positive effect on adjacent home valuesAffordable housing can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, but unequivocally if supply does not keep up with demand then prices will rise and affordability will suffer.  Lack of affordable housing increases burdens on public transportation and has other ultimately negative effects on a community’s overall health.  There is a formula (based on density) for increasing housing supply in a way that does not add pressure on resources, most notably more children enrolling in local schools,  but provides tax revenue to support those schools nevertheless.  

Laurel Mews owners could see a situation where the value of our homes goes down if we do not maintain our property to match the managed curb appeal of those apartments.   But even in that situation the value of the dwelling can go down, but the value of the land will continue to appreciate.   Location and upkeep of the house have the strongest impact on price.   The former can’t change, and the latter we can control.

So the question for the HOA is how does it collect enough via assessments to maintain, modernize and upgrade the common elements,  but not so much to seriously constrain owners from doing the same with their individual unit.  The answer may be to take more seriously our spring inspections, and try to get some pool pricing via some contractors or some exterior upkeep services, e.g., painting, roofing, window replacement, etc.  In the end our location is valuable.  But even if we fail in the upkeep of our homes, the value of our land will continue to appreciate as investors look to replace our down-market housing with more upscale units.  

All these arguments are applicable to the plan for the Exxon parcel development.  But we should consider the effect of losing a nearby gas station.   The question is,  would losing the Exxon gas station reduce competition and thus force local residents to spend more on gasoline? 

While crude oil and wholesale prices are the main drivers of gasoline pump prices, the brand of competing stations and their relative geographic proximity to each other are important factors in explaining price variation across gasoline stations, as opposed to just the number of competing stations.  

Gasoline retail prices are heavily influenced by the station’s amenities.  Our Exxon station has the amenity of a spacious, clean and well-stocked convenience store.  When the Exxon parcel is developed into apartment homes, gasoline shopping and convenience store shopping will be decoupled there as the gas station will likely go away.  But a convenience store will likely be part of the retail mix in the new building, notwithstanding a possible loss of retail parking. 

So to make gasoline purchases nearby, we will have to go further east on Lee Highway.  This might be a good thing for Laurel Mews residents.  Research shows that there are significant retail price effects when gas stations are adjacent or at least closely clumped together.  Gas stations most intensely compete with stations less than 1 mile away and that the intensity of competition diminishes with distance.  Our Exxon station is relatively isolated as a gasoline outlet.  One mile away from our Exxon station (6730 Lee Highway), there are 4 gas stations in the 5600-5800 blocks of Lee Highway (Shell, BP, Sunoco and Westover Service).   There may be many explanations for this, but gas tends to be cheaper at each of these 4 stations compared to our Exxon station.

There is a disputed effect that suggests that gas stations that are very close to each other may actually collude, thus can force up prices.  But compared to transient consumers at the Exxon, residents in this area have the time and information to make informed choices in gasoline purchases.   Transient consumers, i.e., those entering or exiting I-66 may not know about, or willing to drive further down Lee Highway to purchase gas.  That can change however with the advent of smart websites and mobile applications that can inform motorists of station locations complete with price information

Can we as consumers along with our government guard against collusion?  Can extra traffic on Lee Highway between I-66 and Harrison be tolerated?  Can the Shell, BP, Sunoco and Westover Service stations meet the transferred demand from the lost Exxon station?   The answers probably depend on a number of factors, including what is done with other nearby land parcels; for instance, a new plan for the Shreve parcel, which as an apartment home development has run into critical stumbling blocks.  A single retail outlet that sells multiple brands of gasoline and allows consumers to purchase via the internet (like movietickets.com) and redeem at the pump via a pre-authorized code or card would be a very interesting development for the Shreve site.  There is also a parcel at the intersection of Fairfax Drive and Little Falls Road that conceivably could become a gas station. 

Going back to the original topic, in the end the proposed development of the Exxon and Verizon parcels are investments in our Washington Blvd, Lee Hwy and Sycamore Street island that is something we should rather have over non-investment.  The developments will likely accelerate the appreciation of our home values, especially development of the currently vacant Verizon parcel.  The Exxon development may force changes in choices for our gasoline purchases, though possibly in our favor price-wise.  Deleterious effects may come with this particular change in terms of increased traffic along Lee Highway and congestion at the stations that take up the demand previously met by the Exxon station.

The key for the Laurel Mews HOA is to get out in front of the issues and envision features and outcomes that we want from these developments, e.g., community gardens and green space, appropriate retail and parking, traffic calming, safe pedestrian walkways as well as consistency with and reasonable updates to the Arlington East Falls Church Area Plan.  Then we must develop the knowledge, strategy and skills to negotiate win-win community benefits

–Lawrence

The Water Meters and Economic Equity

Yesterday we had two circumstances where the community water valves had to be turned off.  One was on the Washington Blvd side, the other on the Lee Hwy side.  One was more planned, the other really was an emergency.

This is as good of an occasion as any to talk about water consumption in our community, specifically the fact that our homes are not individually metered.  Our community has only two meters, one for the Washington Blvd side, the other for Lee Highway.  The developers probably did this because it was cheaper and easier for them. 

People have from time to time suggested that we get individual meters installed.  Going down this road would first require a change in our declaration and by-laws, as water expenses are in the pool of undivided common interest costs.   Removing water from our pooled costs, or even scaling our dues by number of occupants would be a breach of our covenants, conditions and restrictions.

But let’s say we can solve that problem by going through the amendment process.  How would the numbers work out?  On average our community of 54 homes uses 10,400 gallons per day.  Many sources indicate that individuals use on average 100 gallons per day.  Crunching those numbers we find that on average there are 1.9 persons per unit.  

Given that our water bill is ~$920 per unit per year, or $461 per person per year, people who live alone are arguably paying more than an equitable share, and occupants with more than 2 occupants pay less than their equitable share. 

But to “correct” this situation would require a many-thousand-dollar capital project.  There would probably be multiple excavations to install metered manifolds and piping reconfigurations.  We can reasonably estimate the cost per unit would be at least $3K per unit, or $162K total.  To amortize that cost over 10 years at a 5% interest rate would cost the community $1,720 per month, or $21K per year, $381 per owner per year.  

(Update: We had the occasion to discuss this project with a contractor that actually does this kind of work, and a better estimate is probably closer to $7,500 per unit.)

The latter number assumes that the capital cost would be shared equally amongst all owners.  But following the logic for doing this in the first place, the capital cost should arguably be born by single-occupant owners only.  In Laurel Mews there are 7 units with only one occupant.  For 10 years their yearly living costs would include an additional $2,600.  And while they would be saving on water during this time, it would be another 7 years before their water bill savings would pay off.

But going back to a model where all owners share equally in the capital cost,  for 10 years single occupant owners would save $461 per year ($4,610 total).  But they would have to pay $318 per year ($3,180) for the capital cost, thus save only save $143 per year for the 10 year period.   Owners with 2 occupants on the other hand would be asked to pay $3,180 for a project for which they really would receive no economic benefit.  Owners with 3 and 4 occupants would not only see their water bills go up, they would have to share in the capital cost, thus would find their living cost go up $779 and $1240 per year, respectively.

Granted, after the capital costs are retired, single occupant owners would save several hundred dollars per year in perpetuity.  But two-occupant units would never recover their share of the capital costs.   Three and four occupant units would see their costs go up more than what the single occupant owners would save.  This is why arguably only the single occupant owners should pay the $162K capital cost. 

Surely there are better ways for single occupant units to save $143 per year that does not involve doing so at the untoward expense of two-occupant owners, or with something better than a 17 year horizon.  If we addressed this at all, the much easier thing to do is just scale the dues to number of occupants and just stop there without spending the $162K+ to install individual meters.  But if we do that, we would be hoping, without really knowing, that water consumption rates from average data is what the actual pattern is in our community.  Anyway It is hard to see how this project would support our overall property values.   There are all kinds of unfair economic divisions in any condo community that the HOA cannot solve.  It is not clear why we should try to solve this one.

— Lawrence