The Hideout's Dues Are Still Paying for 2024

If you go under contract on a home inside The Hideout this fall, which year's finances are you paying for? The assessment on the listing sheet is $2,330 per lot for 2026. Part of that figure covers a loss from 2024. Whatever the Board sets for 2027 will reflect how 2025 turned out. A buyer closing this winter could get the first bill for a number that wasn't public when they made their offer.

The Hideout Property Owners Association publishes enough to follow this money through its own budget and newsletter. Read in order, those documents show an assessment that runs about two years behind the community's books. They also show why the most useful dues figure for a buyer comes in a state-required packet, after the offer.

The Number on the Listing Sheet Has an Expiration Date

As of mid-October 2026, the POA's budget page lists "The Hideout 2026 Proposed Budget" and "The Hideout 2025 Final Budget," along with audited financial statements through December 31, 2024. No 2027 budget is posted there yet. In the August 2026 issue of The Hideabout, the association's newsletter, the Board said it would finalize the 2027 budget later that month. The same issue scheduled a Board workshop for September 4 and a Board meeting for September 19.

So a listing written this fall will almost certainly quote the 2026 figure, and a closing in the new year will run on the 2027 figure. Pennsylvania law covers that gap. Under the Uniform Planned Community Act, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5407, a seller reselling a home in a planned community must give the buyer the declaration, bylaws, rules and a certificate before the contract is signed or otherwise before conveyance. The certificate includes the current assessment and the association's current operating budget. The statute makes the purchase contract voidable by the buyer until the certificate arrives and for five days after, or until conveyance, whichever comes first.

That window is the part of a Hideout purchase where the dues question gets answered. The rest of this post covers what to compare the certificate against.

How a 2024 Loss Showed Up in 2026 Dues

The 2026 assessment rose $170, or 7.9%, over 2025's $2,160. That is the largest dollar increase in the seven-year history printed in the budget. The budget notes break it down. Of the $170, $85 covers a 2024 operations loss of $311,094 and $30 refills the association's $200,000 contingency fund. The notes also put the full increase at $3.27 a week, add a 3% surcharge on credit card purchases in place of the old convenience fee, and end American Express acceptance.

Minutes from the January 17, 2026 Board meeting, printed in the March Hideabout, confirm the 2026 assessment was billed at those component amounts. They also spell out the timing. The 2024 operating loss went into the 2026 budget, and any 2025 loss or overage will be reflected in the 2027 budget.

That timing is the mechanism. A year's results aren't known until the books close and the audit moves along, and by then the next year's budget is already set. The association settles each year's outcome two budgets later. Every Hideout assessment therefore carries a correction for a year the current owners may not have lived through.

Seven Years of Dues, Reweighted

The total assessment has climbed at a modest pace. The proposed budget's assessment history shows that the mix inside it has changed much more than the total.

From 2020 to 2026, the total rose $525 per lot, about 29%. The operations line rose $760, about 56%. Over the same years, the capital reserve contribution fell from $395 to $160 per lot, and the two reserve lines together dropped $265. About a third of the operations increase was offset by money moved out of reserves, which kept the headline number from rising as fast as operating costs.

When members asked about this at the March 14, 2026 Board meeting, management tied the operating increases to staffing adjustments, wage increases for recruitment and retention, and rising costs of ongoing operations. On the reserve side, the May 2026 Hideabout printed this exchange:

"Why has the capital reserve contribution decreased, and is that sustainable long-term? A: Management indicated that the reduction in capital reserve contributions was part of broader budget adjustments to address current operational demands. The Board noted that reserve funding will be monitored and adjusted as needed to maintain long-term financial stability."

The same Q&A explained that the contingency fund covers cash-flow shortages and has to be replenished within a set timeframe under the governing documents. It linked recent replenishments to the 2024 shortfalls and operating costs.

2025 Ended in the Black, and That Carries Into 2027

This is where the delay becomes more than an accounting detail. At the May 9, 2026 Board meeting, the financial team reported about $1.3 million in 2025 net income before depreciation. With depreciation of about $1.2 million a year, that left year-end book net income of about $153,000. The 2025 audit was still in progress when those figures were presented, so they are the Board's reported numbers. The same meeting reported first-quarter 2026 net income before depreciation of about $590,000 against a budgeted surplus of about $188,000, a favorable variance of about $400,000.

So the 2026 dues included a charge for a 2024 loss, while the year that feeds the 2027 budget closed with a reported surplus. Under the rule in the January minutes, that 2025 result belongs in the 2027 budget. What the Board actually did with it will show up in the 2027 figures. The 2026 increase was driven by a specific past loss, so it doesn't set a trend line for the next increase.

The Two Lines Worth Reading Closely

Two other figures from the May 9 report help explain how the budget behaves.

At the end of December 2025, the association reported about $1.2 million in operating cash, about $70,000 in capital reserve cash, about $239,000 in new capital funds, and about $4.6 million in short- and long-term investments, for total holdings of about $6.1 million. The 2026 proposed budget shows $980,200 in expenses from existing reserves and $103,600 in new-capital projects. The minutes don't say how the $4.6 million in investments is designated. The certificate's reserve statement is where that gets answered.

On the collection side, the Board and its financial representatives discussed about $2.5 million in outstanding receivables, of which about $2 million was considered reserved or potentially uncollectible. That left a net receivable of about $600,000. In any association, the budget has to cover the full cost of running the community, and the money that pays for it is whatever actually gets collected. A large uncollectible balance means a gap between what is billed and what comes in, and the budget has to make up that gap somewhere.

None of this shows on the amenity side. In the same August issue, the community manager listed recent improvements: a new Pizzeria, a new mini golf course, new pool pumps, indoor seating at the Main Lodge for the Tiki Bar, a QR guest reader live at the North Gate, and an emergency text alert system for members. Those upgrades and the reserve and receivable balances all sit inside the same assessment.

Matching the Certificate to This Budget

Section 5407 lists what the resale certificate must contain, and several items line up with the issues above.

1. The current assessment and any unpaid amounts owed by the seller. For a closing in early 2027, this is where the 2027 figure appears in writing.
2. Proposed capital expenditures for the current and next two fiscal years. This is the forward view to set beside the shrinking reserve line.
3. Capital reserves and any portion designated for specific projects. This answers how the $70,000 in reserve cash and the investment balance are assigned.
4. The most recent balance sheet, income and expense statement, and current operating budget. These documents show the 2025 result and the carry-forward.
5. Judgments against the association and the status of pending suits.

The statute gives the association ten days after an owner's request to provide what the certificate needs. A buyer is not liable for unpaid assessments or fees above the amount stated in the association-prepared certificate. The buyer's five-day period begins when the certificate is delivered, and conveyance ends it if that happens first, so when the certificate arrives determines how long a buyer has to read it.

This post is general information, not legal or financial advice. Please confirm how the statute and The Hideout's governing documents apply to your purchase with a real estate attorney or other qualified professional.

If you're weighing a home inside The Hideout and want help reading the resale certificate alongside the POA's own budget history, Linda Hanf and David Hanf can go through it with you. Schedule a free consultation.