Learn about the $200 special assessment you must pay to replace our aging deck on our BUDGET PAGE. This page is password-protected. To get the login info required, please email us.
Lakefield Farms Clubhouse, 21 Great Hill Road, Sandwich
ANNUAL MEETING JUNE 12, 2025 - ANNUAL ASSESSMENT UPDATE - click for more
Read the minutes of our Annual Meeting here
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Read the minutes of our Annual Meeting here.
ANNUAL MEETING JUNE 12, 2025
ANNUAL ASSESSMENT UPDATE
February 25, 2025
Hello everyone,
This message is particularly important because it relates to the Lakefield Farms Trust (LFT) assessment fee for the next fiscal year (fiscal year 2026) which begins on June 1st, 2025. Please read this important information.
From 2007 to 2022 (15 years) the annual assessment stayed at $175 even though the cost of living more than doubled. During that time, the ever-increasing operating costs were covered by delving into our emergency reserve fund. As a result of inflation, that fund was significantly reduced. Thus, Lakefield Farms Trustees began to rebuild our emergency fund.
In 2023 the Trustees raised the annual assessment fee to $250 to stem the further depletion of the emergency fund and, despite the cost-of-living index increasing by 8.7% in the previous year, the Trustees decided to keep the annual fee at $250 in 2024. By then, we saw another increase in the cost of living of 3.2%. This leads us to the topic of this message.
With the increase in the cost of living over the past two years of nearly 12%, LFT should be looking at an increase in the annual fee to about $300 for this coming year. However, the Trustees voted not to raise the annual fee for this coming year because you have already been asked for an additional $200 to fund the replacing of our deck.
That said, the numbers don’t lie. To keep the annual fee at $250, LFT will realize a shortfall of approximately $12,000 between the expected income and the operating costs of the clubhouse and grounds.
Three years ago, LFT noted about $55,000 in unpaid annual assessments. Since then, we have been diligent and have worked hard to recover $37,000 of these funds. As a result, the total arrears currently stand at approximately $18,000.We’ve achieved this in a number of ways; with direct and frequent communication between the Trustees and homeowners in arrears, with the development of payment plans/schedules, and in some cases LFT has taken legal action in the courts. We are committed to collecting the balance of this debt by continuing our work with homeowners who remain indebted to the Trust.
The recovery of a sizable portion of the delinquent funds allowed us to maintain the $250 annual fee last year and cover the operational cost during 2023 and 2024. In addition, we were able to re-nourish the emergency fund back up to about $30,000. Driven by the desire to hold this year’s fees to $250, the Trustees and Office Manager have carefully reviewed our operating cost to see where savings can be made.
Last summer, we were able to hire a lifeguard only as a part-time employee (three or four days per week instead of the traditional seven days per week). This arrangement seemed to work well. Therefore, the Trustees have decided that this summer we will seek a lifeguard on similar terms (3 days per week) to realize a cost saving.
Suffice to say, the Trustees and staff of LFT are working hard to save you money by keeping the 2026 fiscal year (beginning June 1st, 2025) assessment fee at $250. But it is truly clear that the following year (Fiscal year 2027, that begins on June 1st, 2026) the assessment will have to be increased. For more details, please attend the LFT Annual General Meeting (AGM) that will take place on the second Thursday of June (Not the third Thursday as is traditional). The AGM will be held in the Clubhouse on June 12, 2025, starting at 7:00pm. You will be able to pick up your new membership card at that time.
Please note that all Lakefield Farms homeowners are members of the Lakefield Farms Trust, under Massachusetts law as prescribed in the Trust By-Laws, registered at the Barnstable Registry of Deeds Document 07366, Book 1620, Page 006, and as described in the deeds to your own property.
As homeowners of Lakefield Farms, our financial obligations that include yearly dues and assessments, principal and interest, are critical to the financial health of the Trust. Please be aware that you must be a fully paid-up member of the Trust in order to avail yourself of the Trust’s property and resources. If your Lakefield Farms Trust account is not fully paid up, and you would like to arrange a fair payment plan, please contact me at lakefieldfarms@comcast.net.
This past year has been exceptional partly because of the deck project, but also because consumers have had to deal with inflation and constantly rising prices of groceries and necessities. We wish you all well and hope that our homeowners will be pleased that the annual fee will not increase this year. We wish you well.
Thank you.
If you have any questions, please email me on lakefieldfarms@comcast.net or call me on my cell at 978-505-8757.
Thank you,
Colin Towers
Office Manager
Lakefield Farms Trust
