N E W S
J U L Y 4
L E H A V R E
LE HAVRE 2020/2021 BUDGET
& FINANCE MEETING
BY JILL DAVIS
Le Havre Owners Corp. held its
annual shareholders’ Budget & Finance
meeting on Monday, June 29, to introduce
and explain the 2020/21 budget.
Because of the pandemic, the meeting
was held virtually. In addition to the
Le Havre Board, General Manager
Margaret Costello, attorney Geoffrey
Mazel and accountants Carl Cesarano
and Aleem Khan attended via Zoom,
and over 100 Le Havre residents participated
by telephone.
Le Havre Board President Stanley
Greenberg began the meeting by
reviewing the status of some current
projects that are underway at Le Havre.
“Upcoming projects that were stalled
because of Covid-19 will resume,
specifically the cement work at B#1
in July. Other projects will depend
on timing,” he said. Stanley emphasized
the need to continue the exterior
work on the buildings. “Those who
have been here 15 years or more will
remember what is was like with leaks,
etc., and since that time we’ve had
very little or almost no leaks in the
buildings. But, “he said, “that work
was done almost 15 years ago so it’s
vital for us to keep up with the work.”
Thinking long-term, Stanley said, “we
will have to repaint the buildings. For
the most part they look pretty good, but
it’s a great expense, especially when
you have 32 buildings.”
New committees in the planning
stages include one for the playground.
Board member Carla DeStefano is in
charge of the Playground Committee
which is of particular interest to families
with young children. In addition,
Board Member Susan Stokar would
like to revitalize the Landscaping
Committee. Funds have been collected
for the committee and consultation will
be done with the landscaper, who will
also do the work. “Anyone interested
in the above committees should contact
the Management Office at 718-767-
7400,” Stanley said.
Carl Cesarano then discussed Le
Havre’s financials. “The operating
budget ending 2020 will be the same
in 2021,” Carl said. “Due to the pandemic,
we wanted to help shareholders
as much as possible,” he said, “but we
wanted to make sure we could hold
the line with maintenance. In order to
achieve that,” he explained, “we had
to have expense reductions. But we
were able to maintain the same dollar
per share.” The bottom line, and good
news for Le Havre shareholders, is that
there will be no increase in maintenance.
“We were able to achieve something
to accommodate a very challenging
time to keep the maintenance the
same,” Carl said.
Carl reported that the biggest expenses
4 LEHAVRE COURIER | JULY 2020 | WWW.QNS.COM
are employee wages (21% of total
expenses) and real estate taxes (nearly
30%). In addition, the fixed mortgage
expense represents approximately 19%
of the total. “Overall,” Carl said, “we
have essentially no control over 70%
of our expenses.”
He then explained the provision for
capital funding. “We have an assessment
for the capital reserve and for the
elevators,” Carl said, and “one thing
we want everyone to be comfortable
with is there is no comingling of the
funds. Margaret Costello makes sure
they’re put into a segregated account”.
Residents are reminded that NYC
has mandated a complete modernization
of elevators in all mid- and highrise
buildings in the city by the end
of 2027. This is a costly undertaking
for any property, but regardless
of the expense, it will be required.
Stanley noted that “NYC has presented
many challenges. We have 32 elevators.”
Nevertheless, Geoffrey Mazel
explained, “It’s a city mandate due
to public health and safety issues.”
Stanley noted that the elevators were
last renovated 25 years ago, so by 2027
it will be over 30 years since they were
upgraded. “At some point in time,” he
said, “we will have to modernize them
because of their age, so it’s in the cards
anyway.”
With regard to the elevator assessment,
Stanley said that “as a courtesy
we tried to stagger the monthly assessment
over time.” The yearly elevator
assessment was put in place in 2018.
The 2020-2021 elevator assessment
was increased to 6 cents per share as of
July 1st. The current plan is to maintain
that level until at least the 2023-2024
fiscal year. Stanley explained, “At that
point we will reevaluate the cost to
modernize the elevators and see if
there is any need to increase the assessment.”
In the meantime, all of the Le
Havre elevators underwent required
2020 upgrades of their door lock monitoring
systems this past May.
Stanley concluded the meeting, “I’d
like to thank the Board for the great
work they’ve been doing all year.
Although some decisions may not be
liked by everyone, we’re shareholders,
just like everybody else,” he said.
“I’d also like to thank Carl Cesarano
and Geoffrey Mazel. And of course
Margaret Costello, who knows everything.
He also thanked the Management
staff. And I want to mention our superintendent,
Piotr Moscicki. I think he
really does a super, super job and so
does his staff.”
Overall, Le Havre’s first virtual
meeting was a success. “This was
a great way to inform everybody,”
Stanley said, “and I thank everyone
who attended. Thank you.”
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