commentary by Joe Reynolds, OceanPinesForum.com

General Manager John Viola created quite a dilemma for the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors.

For many years association members bemoaned the negative bottom line numbers for our major business amenities. Let's not forget the so-called "structural deficit," a focus some twelve years ago of then-director Pete Gomsak and the subsequent never-to-end five-year plan to recover that deficit. There were the usual yearly budget battles about how much to increase the assessment. The endless debates over "operational" profit or loss, versus measuring the real bottom line profit/loss by including "depreciation" dollars for each amenity.

For those paying close attention to the OPA budget process, the yearly budget debates were one of the more interesting aspects of living in Ocean Pines. Finally, board members became fed up with the constant budget loss battles and operational profits debates. They fired the General Manager and replaced him with one of their own as an interim General Manager - a young, popular, well-spoken businessman who seemed to have all the answers.

Result? A complete and utter disaster, causing perhaps the largest amenity operational losses in the history of OPA. Unfounded accusations about some staff members. Illegal audio recording of conversations in the Administration Building. Lie detector tests for a few Administration employees. An exposure of theft at the Yacht Club. Staff resignations. An expensive forensic audit pointed to deposit thefts originating at OPA's bank, not the Administration Building. In short -- a complete mess.

Fortunately, two things happened. One, in April of 2018, OPA hired Matt Ortt Companies to manage food and beverage services at the Yacht Club and Beach Club. Two, in April of 2019, John Viola was appointed General Manager. He was formerly chairman of the Budget & Finance Committee and also held the position of OPA Chief Financial Officer.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Viola's tenure as General Manager has brought new problems and new debates to the forefront.

Gone are the days of great consternation over how much to raise the assessment. Lately, the debates rage over how much the assessment should be lowered. In February of 2022, the Ocean Pines Board of Directors unanimously approved the fiscal year 2022/2023 budget, setting the basic annual assessment at $896, a $100 decrease from the prior year.

Very soon the board will be voting on the budget and assessment amount for the 2023/2024 fiscal year. Viola initially proposed an assessment reduction of around $25. Committee reviews, board reviews, and a public hearing now have the Viola suggested reduction at around $8.

Here's the rub. OPA will close out the current fiscal year at the end of April with a $1.6 million favorability, according to comments at a Town Hall meeting by Viola. Should OPA consider reducing the assessment by perhaps another $100, representing about half of that $1.6 million?

Where does the board stand on this? There is no way to know until a final vote on the budget, perhaps in a week. However,  there is no surprise that board members seem to have varying opinions, possibly split along the fault line of the majority/minority makeup of the board.

Generally speaking, the minority of Colette Horn, Steve Jacobs, and Frank Daly seem to favor not lowering the assessment beyond some minimal amount like five dollars. Horn and Daly were in the majority last year when they reduced the assessment by $100.

Stuart Lakernick, a member of the current majority along with Doug Parks, Rick Farr, and Monica Rakowski, questioned why the projected $1.6 million surplus would not be partially used to reduce the assessment. "Going forward, we’re still going to have a surplus based on our assessments. I don’t understand why we only have a $4 proposed reduction in our assessment," Lakernick said during the recent budget public hearing. Doug Parks, as is typical, expressed an opinion leaving listeners wondering what he meant.

Recent financial history indicates a loss of $1.3 million in the fiscal year ending April of 2018; a $26,000 profit in 2019; $571,000 profit in 2020; a $1.5 million profit in 2021; $1.9 million profit in 2022; $1 million projected profit in 2023, plus a $600,000 surplus carried over from prior fiscal year. Viola runs a money-making machine.

Lakernick's position is the proper position - use some of those surplus funds to reduce the assessment. A $100 reduction seems appropriate. If the budget next year requires an increase, so be it. Don't take association member money in advance to avoid potential future increases. The budget should be 100% transparent, and not based on taking association member money beyond what is needed for publicly stated, budgeted operations and any specifically allocated reserves.

The final assessment amount is a board decision. If General Manager John Viola would stop making so much money, OPA's Board of Directors would not be faced with these problems.