With the steepest HOA fees in the city of Maricopa, the gated Province Community Association plans to raise them once again, board members told homeowners there recently.
Province homeowners, most of them retired snowbirds, were notified by PCA Executive Director Carl Rygg that the board of directors took the cue from its budget and finance committee to raise the quarterly fee to $856, a 3.5-percent hike, on Jan. 1.
That amounts to $3,424 a year, which includes taxes and a $57 Orbitel cable TV service pass-through charge. Payment received after the 30th of the month is subject to an additional late fee of $23.50.
Compare that to Maricopa’s youngest subdivision, Amarillo Creek, where homeowners pay $90 per month in total dues and fees.
The Orbitel fee in Province will continue only until Aug. 31, when Province’s contract expires, Rygg noted.
“This increase allocates operating expenses for general increase in operating costs, according to the new reserve study, as well as costs due to rising inflation,” Rygg said in his Nov. 15 letter to homeowners.
The PCA 2025 budget presentation is set for 3 p.m. Dec. 5 at the 55-and-older community’s Town Hall.
Patrick McCobb, a retired veteran and communications officer with the Maricopa Veteran Memorial Park Task Force, was relatively unfazed by the proposed increase after two years living in Province.
“Everyone expects the HOA fees to go up each year,” McCobb said. “Inflation happens.”
However, he questioned whether Province residents are getting what they pay for.
“The grass is still not green,” McCobb said. “The lakes are full of algae. The problem with cormorants still exists.
“Most of the folks we talk to enjoy our Province lifestyle. But we expect the issues that are right in front of us to be taken care of. Soon.”
Province’s amenities include green belts, about 50 miles of walking trails, segments of which are in poor condition, and a community center with pickleball and tennis courts, a bocce ball court, a putting green, an indoor lap pool and an outdoor resort pool.
Properties fronting Province’s many ponds fed with Global Water Resources reclaimed water are typically about $100,000 more expensive than those with greenbelt or undesirable frontage. Contracted landscape crews routinely mow and blow greenbelts, and at least annually prune shrubs and trees. One employee is designated to clean up after pooping Canada geese. He also repairs the barrier arms at the rear Province Parkway entrance that are frequently broken by motorists who fail to navigate the gateway.
Cobblestones Farms has Maricopa’s second most expensive HOA fee at $326 per quarter, nearly three times cheaper than in Province.
