AURORA | Some Heather Gardens residents and a city lawmaker are criticizing their homeowner’s association after its board of directors received more than $1 million in pandemic crisis government loans intended for small businesses.
Sentinel Colorado originally reported July 17 the living community for residents in their 50s and older — which is centered around a golf course — received a Paycheck Protection Program loan between $1 million to $2 million. The U.S. Department of the Treasury had released data of businesses and non-profits organizations that took loans through the program.
According to Heather ‘n Yon magazine, the home-grown newsletter for the Heather Gardens Association, the Board of Directors applied for and received a $1,058,700 PPP loan in April.
Officials said in the newsletter that the HOA board used the PPP loan to “to help defray the cost” of a hazard pay program paying its workers more than $3 an hour above other wages.
Resident Kevin Olson, who owns a home in Heather Gardens, said the homeowner’s association did not need the loan, and should not have applied.
“There’s something very wrong with what they are doing. And there are quite a few people who feel the same way,” Olson said. “It’s an HOA. We’re not a business. And, no matter what, we are not going to close.”
Aurora City Councilmember Alison Coombs said she heard criticisms from Heather Gardens residents about the PPP loan and the association’s approach to the pandemic. She represents the manicured golf course community, which sprawls near the intersection of East Yale Avenue and Interstate 225. The community is home to 3,800 residents in 2,400 units, according to its website.
Coombs echoed Olson, who said the homeowner’s association is funded by homeowner fees, which the board has consistently raised on residents. Olson said that, after the board raised fees effective January 2020, he now pays almost $550 per month to the HOA, compared to $480 last year and $422 the year before.
“I’d rather see those (PPP) funds go to folks that are in jeopardy of closure than to an HOA that, again, cut services for their residents and increased fees during this time,” Coombs said of the federal loan program.
To acquire dollars through the $659 billion assistance program, organizations who successfully applied for the loans had to demonstrate that the novel coronavirus pandemic and related business restrictions were taking a financial toll. Then, they received dollars by way of a formula including payroll costs.
The government plans to forgive the loans if organizations spend the funds on essential functions, like retaining employees and paying utility bills.
Heather Gardens General Manager Calvin White said in a statement that “Receiving PPP funds has allowed Heather Gardens to continue employing most of our staff in recent months, including additional employees who help keep common areas clean and help the association follow (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines for COVID-19 protection.”
White added, “PPP funding allowed Heather Gardens, a community-governed association, to protect against raising association fees due to unplanned COVID-19 related expenses on our lower income and middle income residents.”
Jane Dvorak, a public relations consultant, responded to the Sentinel’s inquiry on behalf of Heather Gardens. She would not say how the pandemic had negatively impacted homeowner’s association coffers.
Coombs and Olson argue that the homeowner’s association possibly saved money from ill-received service cuts imposed during the pandemic.
Olson said the public pool has been shuttered, as well as a community restaurant he ran as a manager for five years. Coombs said the pickleball courts and tennis courts were closed for periods.
Olson said he has knowledge of the board’s financial positions as a former manager of the community-run restaurant and the community newsletter.
He said Heather Gardens employs about 80 people as landscapers, painters and maintenance and restaurant staff. Some were furloughed during the pandemic, but most have continued to work, according to Olson.
Coombs said she heard numerous complaints about the service cuts in particular.
“It’s hard because the folks in the community feel that their voices aren’t heard by their resident board members,” she said.
In his statement, White said, “All our actions are taken under the direction of our community-elected board, and we encourage all residents to continue to make their voices heard on all issues to their resident board members.”
The PPP program has served as a lifeline for small businesses. But, nationally, some recipients have been scrutinized. Glitzy fashion designers, music stars, political organizations and the Catholic Church all received millions of dollars in payments.
The federal life preserver program briefly ran out of money in April.