As of Feb. 28, the surplus in the wages and benefits expense account on the Recreation Centers of Sun City West’s profit and loss statement was $509,312. Based on 28,000 owner/member cards, this means $18.19 of your dues went to cover this budgeting sleight of hand.
From prior experience and comments made by the CFO, I believe RCSCW intends to keep this surplus plus any further amounts generated between now and the end of the fiscal year on June 30.This is wrong. It should be credited back to the residents via a reduced dues increase next year.
Where does this surplus come from? There is a perpetual number of open rec center jobs that are never filled. From July to October 2024, there were consistently 12 or 13 open positions. Since then, openings have averaged about 20 per month.
Some are for seasonal golf and landscape maintenance workers, along with constant requests for facilities assistants. Almost as a rule, we go an entire year without filling some of these openings. New ones may appear and old ones go away as people quit or are hired.
Budgeting for these positions year after year, knowing a portion of them will never be filled, is borderline unethical. It is a practice that a certified public accountant might frown on, a designation our current CFO does not have. I don’t believe any professional management consulting firm has ever been contracted to review RCSCW’s procedures and staffing levels to suggest cost-savings.
Also keep an eye on operating expenses, a catch — all category lacking detail. We’re two-thirds into the current budget year and that expense is better than budget by $134,153, or another $4.53 per owner/member cardholder. I trust the candidates now vying for board positions will read and understand the above.
If these perennially vacant positions are included to pad the budget and ensure that a dues increase is “needed” each year, perhaps the whole budgeting process needs to be reexamined.
This imbalance needs to be rectified, even if it requires the board to change a stated policy or bylaw. RCSCW works for us, not the other way around.
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