Subject: Re: Curious about parking space taxes
From: Jim Thomas (jthomas@sun.soci.niu.edu)
Date: Tue Feb 11 2003 - 12:54:42 CST
> I don't believe that it is 1P's task to manage my unit and parking tax
> bills for me.
Agreed, totally. But, they're not being asked to manage unit and parking
tax bills. They're being asked to provide information that would help
us manage our bills, and to answer questions about apparent communication
breakdowns. Something serious happened, and regardless who was at fault,
we all own the problem. Problem-solving for the common good, and all that.
The mantra that "it's the owners' responsibility" is true only up to
a point. Most of us accept that responsiblity, and most of us acted
on what we thought was the game. That so many people appear to share
the same problem suggests that there are broader issues and questions.
I would also suggest that protecting owners' interests by sharing
expertise and experience, by giving us a heads-up when they spot
a potential problem that threatens the well-being of the association
members (apparently, a vast majority of them), and maybe, just
maybe, not resorting to "it's not our job," is, in fact, part of their
job.
Let me re-emphasize: No, it's not 1Ps job to manage our taxes. But,
when there is legitimate confusion, and when the confusion does threaten
the commonweal, it seems fully appropriate for a property manager to
recognize the problem, respond, and communicate that response.
John points out that Rezmar forwarded the tax statements to 1P. But, that
doesn't answer the question: Were the 2002 statements sent from Rezmar to
1P? I was told by a county clerk that they went out in October.
I'm not sure that this is a County flub.
> As to why a private individual posted a notice to owners - good question.
> The person that raised the issue here never brough it to the board's
> attention before posting to the discussion list. The original post to
> the discussion list was the first I had heard about it.
I was referring to the initiative that a resident took to post notices
alerting unit owners to the problem. Given that it's affecting so
many, and given that this is a problem that goes back to the transition
issues, I was simply asking why a private individual rather than 1P
took the initiative to alert people. The original post alerting us to
the problem, of course, was appropriate so the owners could share
experiences.
Now, 1P, I'm certain, is working diligently behind the scenes. But, as
with so many issues in the past, prompt, effective communicative
gets lots of PR. Appearing to blame the owners and then remaining
publicly silent is guaranteed to generate rancor. And, of course,
while "it's not my job" may seem a legit excuse, it's not the kind
of response that generates confidence in an employee.
Jim / 501
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