Kiawah Island Digest December 2019 | Page 3

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS • 5% Increase in the General Assessment • Reserve Expenses Fairly Ordinary • Personnel Challenges Persist – But Testing New Strategies • Continued Investment in Technology Investing in employee retention has become a theme, with strategies such as reworking shifts to limit the number of days employees come out to the island, retention bonuses and hiring bonuses. On the recommendation of the director of Land Management, Doug Walter, KICA will try international H2B labor in 2020 – something that has been regularly utilized on Kiawah by other entities, but not by KICA. Doug has experience managing this type of labor force and the association has engaged the same agency as Kiawah Partners and the resort. This change will result in a 3.6% reduction in labor costs for a labor heavy department, despite the addition of coverage in the recent Ocean Park conveyances. Wage pressure continues to be a real challenge. In 2012, 60% of employees commuted from Johns and Wadmalaw islands. That number is down to 40%, with the majority of employees driving long distances from North Charleston, Goose Creek and Summerville. Another big part of personnel costs is insurance and benefits. 2020’s renewal quote from Blue Choice was 19.9% over the 2019 budgeted amount. That was a large increase, and part of a trend in recent years. After some hard work from HR director, Sarah Bond, and Finance and Administration director, Jane Ovenden, KICA will see no increase in insurance costs. Overall, KICA budgeted for a 4.1% increase in 2020 personnel costs, including benefits and international staffing. KICA’s board of directors has emphasized the importance of investing in technology over the past few years. An examination of pain points made it clear that many of KICA’s limitations were coming from the same foundation: KICA’s member database. There aren’t a lot of associations out there like KICA in terms of services and size; out of the box solutions didn’t meet its varied needs. In 2018, Jane Ovenden began researching CRM (Customer Relationship Management) companies, starting with the gold standards: Salesforce and Oracle. After approximately 8 months of talks, the team was excited to recommend Salesforce to the board. The company’s product is cloud-based, a key concern during hurricane season. The robust program fosters collaboration between departments and will limit the double, and sometimes triple, entry that staff are doing now. It will enable the Communications team to be more efficient and includes self-servicing options for members. The platform will enhance the member experience in ways that aren’t possible with the current system. The Salesforce project is budgeted at $430,000 (including implementation partner consulting). Certified Salesforce implementation partner Torrent Consulting will help build a solution that will meet KICA’s needs, as well as a roadmap through the process. This service, which includes tailoring the software to fit KICA’s unique needs, will be $120,000. The board will receive a report after the Torrent discovery portion of the work is complete before the association makes a continued commitment. Special projects are generally included in the operating budget. Noteworthy items include: • $100,000 committed to completing pedestrian safety updates on Duneside Road. • $55,000 for the final phase of the gate access software implementation. • $100,000 for issuance of radio-frequency identification (RFID) decals to island contractors and employees. In 2021, member barcodes will be transitioned to RFIDs. • $125,000 for updates to The Sandcastle. These funds will be directed by the board of directors once they’ve evaluated the different options. To fund the 2020 budget, there will be a 5% increase in general assessments. Segment assessments for the Preserve and Ocean Park remain at 50% of the maximum annual assessment, which amounts to a 5% increase over 2019. There will be no increase for 2020 in the reserve assessment. KICA’s member survey indicated that 77% of members felt assessments were about right or low, a fact taken into account when attempting to keep assessments within the current range. Board member and treasurer Dave Morley commented, “We are funding some strategically important things while maintaining a balanced operating budget. I think that’s a positive for the community.” Visit kica.us/finances for complete financial info. KIAWAH ISLAND DIGEST | 3