FINANCE:
Financials:
The Recreation Centers of Sun City, Inc. (RCSC) ended July within its operating and capital budget year to date. All Divisions except Food & Beverage have met or exceeded their net operating budget projections year to date. Food & Beverage is ($76.4k) unfavorable year to date due to food and liquor sales being negatively impacted by weather in Q1 2023. Operating Income for July totaled $1,818k and was $129.5k favorable to budget due primarily to Assessments being above budget by $24k and booking of $96.7k in Grant revenue from the golf water reduction grant from the AZ Tourism Board. Operating expenses for the month were $1,714k and $376.8k favorable to budget due to Wages being $284.1k favorable to budget. Wages were favorable due to timing –three payrolls were budgeted but only two were processed in July. Year to date Net Operating Excess was $3,043k and favorable to budget by $1,006k (33.1%). This favorable year to date Operating Excess was due to Wages and Benefits being $517k favorable to budget, and Projects $417.7k favorable to budget due to the timing of project completion.
Cardholder Services:
Payments on past due assessments in July were 10.8% of past due balances. Overall accounts receivable decreased in July by (1.5%) and are up 1.3% from the end of 2022. Overall accounts receivable past due balances increased in July by 0.3%. June assessments went 30 days past due at a rate of 4.8% and May assessments went 60 days past due at a rate of 0.5%.
Payments from third-party collections firms totaled $27,825 in July, and total $145,115 year to date. July payments made through the online Web Portal totaled $166,693 from 336 property owners. Year to date online portal payments total $1,442,429 from 2,941 property owners.
In July, property transfer balances decreased by (1.7%). Outstanding balances related to property transfers represent 55% of all receivables and 56% of past due balances. July trustee sale notices on Sun City AZ properties decreased by three to 29, and properties owned by lending institutions remained at 1.
Information Technology:
In July, the Information Technology team received 69 new service requests, and closed 61 requests by month end, leaving 13 tickets remaining open. On average, IT closed service requests in less than one day in July. Year to date, IT has opened 550 tickets, and closed 537 tickets.
In July, IT completed the replacement of all credit card readers in the Snack Shops and began to replace the Pro Shop card readers starting with the Lakes Pro Shop. IT also hired a new IT Support Specialist, who started on July 31, 2023.
Human Resources:
Human Resources added 14 new requisitions during the month of July and filled 10 requisitions, ending the month with 10 open positions. Year to date, HR has opened 99 requisitions, and filled 96 open positions. The time-to fill requisition KPI in July was 9.3 days. HR completed 10 orientation classes for 17 new employees. The HR Manager worked on salary benchmarking for all departments, including visits with Sun City West and Sun City Grand to discuss and compare salary and benefits programs at these communities.
BUILDINGS & INFRASTRUCTURE:
PROJECTS:
In Process:
Marinette Recreation Center (Capital) Status: Green
- Budget: $340,000. Total Cost to date: $226,818
- Project in process; Transformer upgrade completed 08/07/23.
Mountain View Rec Center Phases 1 and 2 (PIF) Status: Red
- Budget: $27.3M. Total Cost to date: $391,467.
- Project suspended per Board direction, 04/05/23.
Sun Bowl Softball Field Improvements (PIF) Status: Green
- Budget: $1.0M. Total Cost to date: $48,950.
- 3 bids received 6/20/23; Bids subsequently rejected by the Board.
- Seeking additional bids via Dodge Construction Network and Construct Connect. Bids are due on 8/31/23.
Viewpoint Lake Repair (PIF) Status: Green
- Budget: $8.0M. Total Cost to date: $6.0M.
- Lake refill process began 08/04/23.
- Project to be completed by the middle of October 2023.
Recently Completed
Bell Recreation Center
- Replaced 2 worn grease traps at George’s Café. Project was completed on 07/17/23 at a cost of $12,540. Contractor: Sunland Plumbing.
- Replaced AC unit serving the Bell Metal Shop with a new 3-ton water cooled unit. Project was completed on 07/22/23 at a cost of $8,692. Contractor: CMS/Nextech.
- Removed and replaced windscreens at the tennis courts. Project was completed on 05/28/23 at a cost of $26,707. Contractor: Elite Sports Builders.
- Parking lot maintenance project: added an application of MAG Type II Latex modified slurry seal and re-striped. Project was completed on 08/01/23 at a cost of $155,596. Contractor: Roadrunner Paving.
- Repainted steel awning supports at Lawn Bowling. Project was completed on 07/13/23 at a cost of $4,300. Contractor: CertaPro Painters.
Oakmont Recreation Center
- Painted interior walls at the auditorium and fitness center. Project was completed on 07/10/23 at a cost of $7,650. Contractor: Exquisite Painting.
Sundial Recreation Center
- Painted interior walls at the Men’s Club. Project was completed on 07/13/23 at a cost of $5,400. Contractor: Exquisite Painting.
- Painted interior walls near FA station in pool area. Project was completed on 07/19/23 at a cost of $9,585. Contractor: Silverado Painting Contractors.
WORK ORDERS (Skilled Trades Repair and Maintenance):
- B&I opened 391 new work orders and completed 347 work orders in July. The average time to close a work order in July was 10.5 days. B&I has closed a total of 2,508 work orders in 2023.
SOLAR:
Open Issues:
Willow Maintenance Inverter Number 3, 7, and 9. Lakeview Inverter Number 9. Bell Lanes Inverter Number 5:
- Kortman emailed Firmer on 05/03/23 requesting what action is being taken on the warranty replacement units. These units have been down since last fall.
- Firmer has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy; working with Kortman Electric to come up with an alternative Inverter product.
Production Data:
- After including July’s production data, the lifetime to date production versus expected went down slightly to 2.48%. The percentage of inverters producing above expected went down slightly to 72%.
GOLF & GROUNDS:
Superintendent Update:
This Summer has been full of irrigation challenges, from the Viewpoint Lake Project to the newly sprigged fairways on the North course, and the newly sodded Tee boxes at Lakes West. On top of these issues, the month of July was the hottest month ever recorded. Despite all these challenges, our Maintenance teams were able to complete a normal Summer of aerification and verticutting. The main objective of these practices is to displace compacted turf and provide channels for water, air, and nutrients to penetrate the soil. This provides the best chance at a full Bermuda grass revival and a successful overseed in the Fall.
The overbearing heat of July and the various irrigation challenges created a perfect storm for allowing weeds to be prevalent on our courses. The course Superintendents have been active in spraying for these summer weeds, and will continue to do so into late August until weed suppression is fully accomplished. Many of the areas that were sprayed as little as two weeks ago have shown tremendous results. We will continue to strive to make our courses better each day. We appreciate all your support and look forward to seeing you out on the course.
Pro Shops:
Year to Date total rounds played in 2023 was 222,150, which was 8,784 rounds less than the same timeframe in 2022. The main cause of the drop was the closure of the front nine holes at North to replace the turf with TifTuf grass.
A breakdown of year-to-date rounds by type reveals:
- 34.4% of total YTD rounds were played by Member Surcharge Passholders
- 16.7% of total YTD rounds were played by Member No Fee Passholders
- 17.0% of total YTD rounds were played by Cardholder Daily golfers
- 13.2% of total YTD rounds were played by Public golfers
- 11.5% of total YTD rounds were played by Guests
- 4.5% of total YTD rounds were played by Non-Resident Passholders
Total Golf Revenue year to date was $5,159,908 and was $187,492 favorable to Budget. Daily Guest greens fees and Tournament income were $80,299 and $58,682 favorable to budget, respectively, and $96,706 in unbudgeted Grant revenue has been booked out of the $525k grant received from the AZ Tourism Board.
Lawn Bowl and Grounds:
The pace of the greens ranged from a low of 11.9 seconds at Oakmont to a high of 13.2 seconds on Mountainview. Moisture readings ranged from a low of 12.4 at Bell North and a high of 14.0 on both Mountain View and Oakmont. All greens were verticut twice, hollow core aerified once and planed in two directions once. The surfaces are now being topdressed and fine-tuned in preparation for the 2023/2024 season.
Centers are mowed and trimmed on a regular basis. Though light so far, some cleanup has been necessitated by monsoon winds. Sun Bowl is being prepped for Fall concerts.
BOWLING:
Bowling is gearing up for the Fall League Bowling Season. If you are looking for lane availability, continue to check the website as the Lane Availability Chart will be updated as the leagues begin. You can check league start dates by clicking on the link for the 2023-2024 Fall League Booklet. Go to the RCSC website and click Bowling/Bowling Centers, then scroll down and click the 2023-2024 Fall League Booklet or Lane Availability Chart (as shown below):
In July of 2023, Bowling lineage continued to outpace 2022 totals. July 2023 lineage totaled 21,739, compared to 20,405 in June of 2022, an increase of 7%. Year to date lineage through July 2023 totaled 189,341 lines, compared to 169,286 through July 2022, an increase of 12%.
Bowling Revenue in July 2023 totaled $58,769 which was 16% higher than the July 2022 revenue of $50,779. Year to date, 2023 Bowling revenue was $512,608, or 18% greater than the total revenue through July of 2022.
OPERATIONS:
Centers Operations:
The additional pool loungers ordered in June continued to be delayed. Additional loungers and upright chairs have been ordered from an alternative supplier with an 8-10 week lead time. The delivery of this additional order is projected to be in early October, with the first order projecting to now be delivered in September. Staff have continued to work on re-strapping existing loungers and upright chairs during this time.
Updated attendance during the expanded Sunday opening hours at Bell and Marinette Centers is listed in the chart below:
Several projects have been completed at RCSC that affected the centers. These included:
- Planned electrical work at Marinette Center requiring closure of the center.
- Sealing and restriping of the parking lot at Bell Center.
- Refinishing the auditorium floor at Sundial Center.
- Painting of the interior of the pool area at Sundial Center.
- Mini golf turf replacement at Lakeview Center.
Chartered Clubs:
Negative feedback was received from darts players and the Dart Club regarding the playability of the electronic dart machines at Bell Lanes. These machines have experienced problems with darts not sticking, incorrect scoring, and display failures. Replacement targets for all five machines were ordered, as well as a spare monitor. The targets have been received and installed on each of the machines. Initial feedback from the Dart Club is that the machines play extremely well.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS:
Visitors Center:
In September, the Visitors Center will celebrate its 20th anniversary of being located at Bell Center. To better brand its work as a “Welcome Wagon” to new RCSC Cardholders and a resource to long-term Members, we are changing our name to the Sun City Visitor & Welcome Center. We will be referring to our talented volunteers as Sun City Ambassadors in a return to the historic original name. We are freshening our welcome materials, and our Sun City Experience will include a recorded Guest Book signature and photo that can, with approval, be posted on Facebook. In July, the Sun City Visitor & Welcome Center responded to 273 inquiries and visitors and took a dozen new residents on the Sun City Experience at Bell Center to learn about RCSC and the community. The biggest interests reported to us by guests were fitness, pickleball, movies, swimming and Zumba.
Social Media:
Our Facebook efforts have increased our average monthly readership thanks in part to community members who have encouraged Sun City residents to follow the RCSC page, (www.facebook.com/suncityarizona). A news campaign was also added as a regular feature to the feed, called Your RCSC News, which provides members with regular news updates or additional details behind projects and plans. The page is free to follow and open to the public to stay in the know about RCSC. The “reach” reported by Facebook increased from 27,000 unique visitors to 37,000 between July and August. Net followers increased by 151 in July, and total followers at the end of July were 4,497. The vast majority of our readers are not official followers, due to our public nature and groups who help to share our posts. We will continue to focus on growing followers, but also tracking the larger group who reads our content without wishing to follow the page officially.
Website:
The graphics below compare website visits in July 2023 (dark line) versus July 2022 (dotted line). We saw 17,409 visitors in 2023 compared to 15,019 in 2022. A survey of residents is planned to ensure we are making the most important information Members easy to locate with 3 or fewer clicks. The average stay on the Website was 1.4 minutes.
ASU Study Coordination:
The final two steps of the ASU study are underway, and the online summary has been updated on the website. The ASU coordinators shared an infographic that has also been added to our website summarizing their findings. The final two steps of the process include a benchmark comparison of RCSC to other active adult communities around the nation, and a survey of prospective future residents and their future plans and desires. The goal of the study has been to review current and future interests and needs through surveys and town halls that have all taken place and have led to the development of data. This data can be used in future planning and resident town halls in years to come.
EVENTS:
The Events and Entertainment Department has completed the ticketed concert series line-up for 2024. We are developing a Season Pass for this concert series that will be beneficial to RCSC Members and Privileged Cardholders. Details of this exciting offer along with the concert series line-up will be released by the end of August 2023. Exciting things are coming your way!
Our next event is scheduled for September 24, at Sun Bowl Amphitheatre as we welcome Re-Boot The Band to kick off the fall concert series.
We are diligently working on a “Grand Re-Opening” of Viewpoint Lake celebration for Wednesday, November 1, from 3-7pm. There will be Pontoon boat rides along with a “Build your own ice cream Sundae” in Social Hall #1. The date is tentative and contingent upon completion of the project. More details to come.
Facility Rentals:
There were 21 Facility rentals from July 1, 2023, through August 12, 2023, grossing $8,472 in revenue.