ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT SYSTEMS MIGRATION AND ADMIN SPEND REDUCTION INITIATIVE

The Dobson Association. Inc. Board of Directors conducted a joint session with the Budget and Finance and Master Planning committees on July 18, 2024 for a Special Open Session to discuss and evaluate proposals received from two financial/ property management companies. We are looking to migrate our financial systems, as well as other core business functions that are currently spread out between several vendors. Each of the companies also presented an additional proposal that included providing a Community Manager for the Association. Our primary goal with this initiative is to reduce excessive administration costs and consolidate our systems into a unified technology platform that is more accessible to homeowners and the Board.

Because this contract exceeds $20,000, our Purchasing Policy requires a Request for Proposal (RFP) and three quotes from vendors. The Association requested proposals from companies in the fall of 2023, however, no RFP was developed and submitted to the companies at that time, in violation of the Purchasing Policy. To remedy this, the Board is forming a Task team to develop a Request for Proposal that outlines the Association’s scope of required services in detail. We will then submit the RFP to the companies that we received initial proposals from in order to rebid the services. This is to ensure that the companies are providing the Association with everything we need and allows us to complete a more efficient comparative analysis of services and cost.

Transition from In-house to Outsourcing

The Dobson Association started transitioning from in-house financial operations to outsourced financial operations with Barkan, a financial/property management company, in August 2021. We also outsourced our payroll operations to Paylocity and our HR function to Amerisource.

Reasons for Outsourcing:

• Efficiency: These companies have dedicated teams to handle these functions rather than one or two in-house Dobson Ranch employees.

• Expertise: These companies have expertise in these functions with consistent systems and processes. In Barkan’s case, they have strong financial reporting, internal controls and compliance to ensure that our financial operations comply with accounting standards and state and federal tax laws.

• Cost and Spend Reduction: Leveraging these companies helps the Association manage headcount and avoid administrative expenses by not needing to hire a team of accountants, payroll, and human resources personnel.

History

Last year, in the summer of 2023, Barkan informed the Association that they were migrating to a new platform. The Board decided that instead of reconfiguring our systems, it would be in the best interest of the Association to look into migrating the financial systems to another financial management/property management based in Arizona. The Executive Director then identified potential companies based on input from our banking partner. In the fall of 2023, the Executive Director met with five companies and requested preliminary proposals for the financial systems migration without submitting a Request for Proposal, as required by our Purchasing Policy.

On June 13, 2024, Advantage HOA, Barkan, City Property, and Associated Property Management (APM) presented proposals at our Board Workshop. The Board decided to pursue City Property and APM, based on being locally owned companies with the technology and resources capabilities to support Dobson Ranch.

On June 21, 2024, the Board requested an additional proposal option from the financial management companies that would include an onsite Community Manager. On June 27, 2024, City Property presented a website portal demo and presentation to the Board at our Open Session. On July 11, 2024, APM presented a follow up proposal at the Board workshop.

All these meetings were open to homeowners, live-streamed with Vimeo recordings posted on our website, and complied with all notice requirements.

Additional opportunities for Cost Savings

Dobson Ranch is currently paying $372,800.00 annually in Systems and Software and contract admin services to support our operations. With this level of admin current spend in these categories, we have a tremendous opportunity to reduce cost by integrating these separate systems and processes into one technology platform and leveraging these services with the potential companies. The financial/property management companies that are being evaluated have technology platforms that integrate the financial and other HOA systems at significantly lower costs than our current spend. Moreover, they have support teams in accounting, escrow, collections (which are currently in-house), and compliance. This will eliminate the need for our contracted administrative personnel.

The technology platforms from these companies offer enhanced user access for HOA transactions and documents that can be tailored to homeowners, Board of Directors, committees, staff, and vendors through separate portals. This would provide realtime access in a one stop shop. In the upcoming weeks, the Board will work with the Task team to develop the Request for Proposal to define the scope of services. The RFP will then be sent to financial/property management companies who will re-submit their proposals and costs. The Board, Budget and Finance, and Master Planning Committees will then review the proposals and submit recommendations. Throughout this process, input from stakeholders: homeowners, employees, and committees will be considered prior to making the final decisions. At this stage, no decisions have been made and no discussions have been conducted by the Board on the pros and cons of each proposal and the potential impact of the proposals on the community and the budget. We will continue to update the community throughout this process. Any feedback or questions can be directed to the Board of Directors by emailing BOD@dobsonranch.com.

Association President Sam Javelosa