I am a 40+ year resident of Hot Springs Village. I’ve seen its finances ebb and flow. We are no longer a country club, we are a small town with some very expensive needs. Next year the Village will have an important election to remove/change some of its current policies and procedures.
Our General Manager Hale should not have to go “hat-in-hand” to both Quorum Courts for our tornado clean-up. We have paid taxes for this emergency assistance. Because we are unincorporated, both Saline and Garland counties can legally collect and keep our share of “turn-back funds.” Over the 50+ years HSV has existed, each county government has collected piles of HSV property tax money. Incorporation would also make us eligible to apply for many more grants. The two previous Cooper Developments in Arkansas have incorporated in order to meet their financial obligations.
A number of years ago, Fountain Lake property owners just outside our West Gate, voted to incorporate. (This area does not include the school district with the same name.) We share a short contiguous border with this city, which is one of the principal factors to be considered when seeking incorporation. The POA committee presently studying our policies and procedures should also include a legal opinion of what would be involved were we to seek annexation to Fountain Lake (city). Could we remain a gated community within their incorporated city? Fountain Lake (city) could act as the collecting agency for both areas and transfer our share of those funds to our POA. Most large cities have private gated communities within their boundaries.
Next year marks the seventh year since Villagers have had the opportunity to change our policies and procedures. Why not add a question about incorporation while retaining our gates as a private community? We need to have legal advice on the “pros and cons” of attaching ourselves to our neighbor. At the very least, this tactic should provide leverage with both counties to loosen their purse strings.
Patricia V MacDonald
Click here to contact the HSV Gazette.
Click here to join our private Hot Springs Village Property Owners Facebook group. Be sure to answer the entry questions.
Click here to visit the POA website – Explore the Village.
Why dont you people leave that alone and ask where’s the money going to. $1320 for each home in here is way more than enough to maintain here.
You can argue the word “incorporate” all you want but the fact is there is a huge problem with paying massive taxes for decades and getting nothing in return. For way too long the general attitude of those calling the shots here is that nothing can be done about it. Patty MacDonald has one good idea, maybe there are others – a major lawsuit perhaps? Whatever the solution may be the first step is recognizing that we have a problem and demanding a resolution.
Hot Springs Village Property Owners Association is incorporated as a Nonprofit Corporation under the Domestic Nonprofit Corporation Act 176 of 1963. See Filing #100025861.
Comment posted by Cheryl Dowden for Patty MacDonald: “It’s always instructive to hear from Gene Garner about any controversy regarding Hot Springs Village Property Owners’ Association. He wrote that HSV is already incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1963 (See filing #100025861). This happened in early 1970. It appears we have been living under incorporation for the past 54 years.
The statements linking incorporation with getting rid of our gates are little more than our own “urban myth.” Nonprofit status is mostly about what tax rate the Village pays; preserving our gates is about our security and marketing. Thank you, Gene.”