By PENNY FLETCHER
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
For part of the summer, temperatures were raised in some of Sun City Center’s common rooms and temperatures were lowered in the exercise pool in an attempt to cope with rising costs of electricity and insurance.
For almost two months, the spa was also drained and turned off.
Hard work by Sun City Center’s Community Association board and treasurer Peter Walker has enabled room and pool temperatures to be made more comfortable again, and the spa filled and heated, said Bruce Arnold, association president. But as costs continue to rise, the association will have to find ways to continue to pay its bills.
At the Oct. 11 regular monthly board meeting, directors will vote on whether to raise members’ dues, and if so – how much.
“The dues are now annually $194 per person,” Arnold said. “Our costs have risen an average of 3 percent a year for four years and we haven’t raised our dues. The charges for reinsurance and electric are definitely the driver for this.”
All association members may attend board meetings every month, Arnold said. But unless there’s an issue like this, they are rarely well attended.
Oct. 11 at 9 a.m. in the Caper Room at the association complex, 1009 N. Pebble Beach Blvd.– not Community Hall – the nine-member board will vote on whether to take the question of raising dues to membership.
If the motion passes, it would then be put on a referendum ballot for the association’s 10,500 members to vote on in December, Arnold said. An Oct. 11 “yes” vote by the board will not automatically raise the dues.
“The members will decide,” Arnold said. 
Preliminary meetings, including one held Oct. 1, suggested dues of around $250 per person being a more realistic figure than the present $194.

Blog your comments about this, and other South Shore issues here and let others know how you feel.

Penny Fletcher is editor of The Sun