Financial:
Financial Report
The Recreation Centers of Sun City, Inc. (RCSC) has ended October 2019 within its operating and capital budget year to date. All Divisions have met or exceeded their net operating budget projections year to date with overall income $118k (1%) favorable to budget and operating expenses $666k (4%) favorable to budget. Income favorability is driven by higher than budgeted Property Assessment income in the Building and Infrastructure Division. Operating expense favorability is primarily driven by lower payroll expense across multiple divisions as well as lower utility expense in the Golf Division. Year to date operating excess without projects favorability is $719k (30%) favorable to budget. In the month of October RCSC has exceeded budgeted income by $48k (3%). Operating expenses were slightly unfavorable to budget in October by $3k (<1%). RCSC Net Operating Excess ended the month of October $50k (25%) favorable to budget.
Cardholder Services
Payments on past due assessments in October were 15.3% of past due balances. Overall accounts receivable decreased in October by 5.9% and is up 1.0% from the beginning of the year. Accounts receivable past due balances have decreased 5.0% since the beginning of the year. September assessments went 30 days past due at a rate of 7.3% and August assessments went 60 days past due at a 4.6% rate.
Payments from our third-party collections firm totaled $10,526 in October. Year to date payments through our third-party collections firm totaled $85,096. Payments made in October through the online RCSC Web Portal totaled $125,912 from 286 property owners. Year to date web portal payments total $1,323,508 from 2,890 property owners.
In October property transfer balances increased by 2.5%. Outstanding balances related to property transfers represent 53% of all receivables and 50% of past due balances. At the end of October trustee sale notices on Sun City AZ properties ended at 29 and properties owned by lending institutions remained at 4.
Projects:
Bell Center
Grand Center
Lakeview Center
Marinette Center
Mountain View Center
Sundial Center
The storefront doors to the auditorium and club areas have been problematic and difficult to secure. Repairs have started to correct the operations and security of these doors. Repairs will be scheduled around events and projected to be completed by early December. Contractor: Quality Lock & Key (Cost $23,991)
South Pro Shop
Solar:
New Issues:
No Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly History, 10/28/19. RCSC B&I staff reset and replaced battery. 10/31/19. Issue Resolved.
Inverter has an E18 error code 10/19/19. RCSC B&I staff reset and changed battery 10/21/19. Issue Resolved.
No Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly History, 10/26/19. RCSC B&I reset staff and replaced battery 10/31/19. Issue Resolved.
Issues Resolved:
Inverter is down (Error IGBT not reaE034) 8/8/19. Inverter was replaced under warranty 10/31/19. Issue Resolved.
Open Issues:
The inverters at Oakmont Center are not reporting production data. This has been an outstanding issue since July 2018. The production meter shows overall production data for the site but the individual inverters are not reporting production to the AlsoEnergy aggregation reporting site. The AlsoEnergy data logger failed and was the first component replaced. An AlsoEngergy Tier 2 engineer was brought onsite after additional efforts to restore communications were unsuccessful. This resource identified failed communications cards on the inverters that was causing the communication problems. After replacing the communication card in one inverter communications remained down. Troubleshooting steps to bypass communication cables also were unsuccessful. The lack of production data affects the overall solar production reporting.
Similar to the Oakmont site the inverters at the Lakeview Rear site stopped communicating with the AlsoEnergy data logger and thus the AlsoEngery aggregation reporting site. The Lakeview Rear inverters are Fronius models similar to Oakmont Center with these two sites being the only Fronius inverters in the RCSC Solar environment. Fronius inverters were installed instead of the PowerOne/ABB due to having single phase rather than a three-phase power source.
Production results significantly lower than expected for this group of inverters. Four of the replacement SMA inverters were installed at this location and the production output was similar to the PowerOne/ABB models removed. DC voltages from the solar panels were field tested and did not indicate significant under supply of voltages. Additional investigation needed on these inverters to identify a cause of the under production and if preventative maintenance tasks positively affect performance.
Production Data:
The lack of data from the Fronius inverters above negatively affect the overall tracked production data.
The data elements used in the comparison of actual production data to estimated or expected production are being reviewed with AlsoEnergy. There are concerns that the comparison data element being used does not accurately reflect actual weather data resulting in the analysis being off, or more negatively reported than actual. This has not yet been confirmed.
Preventative Maintenance:
Analysis of the preventative maintenance proposals has been completed and RCSC will be selecting Kortman Electric to complete preventative maintenance tasks as well as ongoing technical support and repairs. Preventative maintenance tasks will be done on an annual basis with an additional lighter semi-annual onsite review of each inverter. The cost of the twice per year preventative maintenance work is $18,000. Repairs required will be an additional expense. Upon executing the agreement, the work will begin and is estimated to take 3-4 weeks to complete all sites. Additionally, Kortman Electric will begin review of the Fronius inverters at Oakmont Center and Lakeview Rear to get these inverters communicating with AlsoEnergy.
Golf & Grounds:
Pro Shops
On December 12 we will be hosting a fundraising tournament to raise money for our chosen 2019 charity, the Sun City Foundation. The format will be Beat the Pro(s), which will be Brian Duthu (PGA) and Chris Linam (Pro Shop Manager) and will be made up of two person teams. Teams that beat the scramble score of the Pros will equally share the prize pool. The entry fee will be $40 and the event will be held at the South Golf Course. In addition to bragging rights for beating the pros, there will also be a chance at a Pebble Beach Vacation.
In addition to our charity event, RCSC Pro Shops are also selling Duck Bucks to raise funds for the Sun City Foundation. The purchase of a Duck Buck enters you in the Duck Race held on December 13th as part of the Sun City Holiday Celebration event held at the Lakeview Center. The ducks are released from the waterfall and race to the finish line. If your duck finishes in the top three, you win a share of the pot based on the number of ducks racing. There are two separate races held on December 13th, don’t be left without a duck in the race. In addition to the duck race there are other fun events held on the 13th, such as the pie walk, mini golf hole-in-one contest and money tree. The evening ends with the lighted boat parade.
We now have over 20 active Rangers participating in our Volunteer Ranger program and we thank them for their contribution. Anyone interested in learning more about the benefits of becoming a Ranger should contact Chris Linam (Pro Shop Manger) at 623-876-8419 or email at clinam@suncityaz.org.
Snack Shops
Snack Shops are now operating under winter hour and remain open until 5pm except in rare cases of significant weather. We respectfully remind everyone that all food and beverage consumed in the snack shops or adjacent patios must have been purchased through the snack shops.
Golf Courses
The courses that began overseeding on October 21 (South, Quail, Lakes East and Willowcreek) experienced slow germination at the beginning due mainly to the high winds. The cold temperatures that accompanied the winds also hampered the germination. The subsequent warm weather and the additional week of closure have proven beneficial with good germination on these courses. Areas that have been identified as weak have had additional seed added.
As play increases so does the stress on our courses. We remind all golfers that we all have a responsibility to keep our courses in good condition. Golfers assist by filling their divots, raking sand traps, replacing rakes in bunkers parallel to play and repairing ball marks. During times of cart path restrictions please remember to take your sand bottle to the fairway.
Lawn Bowl and Grounds
The 2019 US Lawn Bowl Open ended on November 9. A total of 340 bowlers from 10 different countries participated in the event. Sun City AZ residents represented well in the event. Below are the residents who were on teams that placed in the top for places of the Championship Flight.
Women’s Fours
1st – Donna Law, Ann Sherman, Sharon Perry
2nd – Jean Roney, Rosalie Parsons-Brown, Sue Roth
3rd – Mary Wright
Women’s Pairs
2nd – Jean Roney
3rd – Alice Birkinshaw
Women’s Singles
1st – Mary Wright
3rd – Lorraine Hitchcock
Women’s Bowler of the Tournament
Mary Wright
Men’s Singles
4th – Mike Wagner
The Grounds department has settled into their normal winter maintenance routine at all Centers. Weak areas of overseed have had additional seed spread and are responding.
General:
For those who may not be aware, the monthly management report is available on our website www.suncityaz.org under the RCSC tab. Also, if you have not done so already, please sign up on the RCSC email list where you can designate topics of interest and stay in the loop with RCSC News Alert Emails!