Keep residents safe

This is the benefit that shouldn't need stating, but after Champlain Towers, it must be said clearly: proper reserve management keeps people alive.

The 2021 collapse in Surfside, Florida killed 98 people. Investigations revealed years of deferred maintenance, inadequate reserves, and ignored warnings about structural deterioration. The money wasn't there to fix problems when they were small, and the problems grew until the building failed.

This wasn't an isolated case. Buildings across the country are aging. Concrete spalls. Rebar corrodes. Waterproofing fails. These aren't cosmetic issues—they're safety issues.

Well-funded reserves enable:

• Timely structural repairs. When money is available, boards can act on engineering recommendations immediately, not defer them until disaster.

• Regular inspections. Adequate funding means you can afford thorough, professional assessments—and afford to act on what they find.

• Proactive replacement. Safety-critical systems like fire suppression, elevators, and electrical can be replaced before they fail, not after.

Florida responded to Champlain Towers with new laws requiring structural inspections and reserve funding for critical components. Other states are following. But legal requirements are a floor, not a ceiling.

Your responsibility as a board member—and your interest as an owner—is to keep residents safe. Full funding for reserves is how you meet that responsibility.