Taxes

Chestnut Hill was built in two phases. The original phase, to the south, is in Deerfield Township. The newer phase, to the north, is in the City of Mason. The property tax rates are slightly different between the two.

While everyone who lives and works in the City of Mason pays an income tax, only those who live in the City of Mason portion of Chestnut Hill enjoy the resident rollback.

HOA Explained

The Chestnut Hill HOA (Home Owners Association) exists exclusively within the planned development property to maintain/improve/modify the shared community’s common areas and facilities. The HOA sets and enforces rules which can impact what homeowners can do with their land/structure. Every homeowner is a member of the HOA and is legally co-owner of the common properties. We also share in the risk & liability of activities and events on these properties.

Fees

The annual HOA fees for Chestnut Hill are $850.  These are invoiced annually in the first quarter. 

• The fees have increased only $15 since the HOA began in June 2003
• We have never had a special assessment for additional fees
• We DO NOT charge a home buyer transfer fee (some neighborhoods charge $700+)

Revenue

Less than 1/2% of our annual revenue in 2017 came from charging members extra fees (late charges, violations, lost pool key charge, etc.). We do not see extra fees as a revenue source; simply a deterrent to unneighborly behaviors:

• Late fees allow us to not dip into our reserve funds (less than 1% of residents were late with their annual HOA payments in 2018)
• The Violation Penalties add teeth to our rules so no home/yard becomes an eyesore
• The $50 Pool Keyfob replacement charge is a way to deter keyfobs from being shared with nonresidents

Reserves

In 2015 Chestnut Hill hired an engineer to perform a Reserve Study on all of our assets.  This study estimates the length of service left for every asset and the cost of repair/replacement.  We then fund our “reserves” account annually to minimize surprises.  It is like our well-informed rainy day fund.  Our reserves fund is completely funded through 2018.

Fiscally Conservative

The HOA Board and new management company are fiscally conservative.  We look for creative options to minimize costs while maximizing impact.  Here are a few examples:

• Replacing repair-prone landscape lighting with new LED fixtures
• Buying $300 in Carp to eat pond mold instead of a $5,000 aeration system
• Reducing/replacing landscaped beds with lawn to lower springtime mulch costs
• When window seals failed at the guardhouse, we replaced the glass ($400), not all the windows ($12,000)
• When Deerfield Township and the Water Works refused to paint our rusting fire hydrants in Phase 1, we found special service through Warren County that would ($0)

More to Come

The board is exploring the feasibility for additional improvements for the future (no promises):

• Sports court in the land behind the pool
• Refresh Corner Parks throughout Chestnut Hill
• Add Blinking Crosswalk Sign at Guardhouse
• Renovate the Pool Bathrooms
• Add Stop Signs on Chestnut Hill to reduce speeding