After moving into a home near the South Fork Skykomish River south of Index in 1995, Ben Van Dusen received a $200 bill from a neighborhood group.
Van Dusen paid the bill, assuming he was joining a homeowners association and paying his dues.
But in 1996, he stopped paying because a neighbor told him the Mt. Index Riversites Community Club was not a homeowners association.
Eventually, the club took him and six other property owners who refused to pay to court for overdue bills.
Eight years later, it turns out that Van Dusen and the others owe nothing.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne recently ruled that the community club is not a homeowners association under state law, and can’t force anyone to be members or pay dues.
Wynne said in his recent ruling that the property owners have a constitutional freedom not to associate, or to associate, with the community club.
The club owns eight miles of dirt road in the area. Mt. Index Riversites is comprised of about 1,100 lots owned by approximately 494 people, the ruling says.
The club, which was formed in 1961, has maintained the roads and bridges in the area by gathering money from property owners. It had a rule that all the property owners were automatically club members and obliged to pay annual dues.
However, the judge ruled that property owners are obliged to maintain only the roads and bridges they actually use.
Based on the ruling, the club is planning a new formula to charge property owners for use of roads, said Cameron Bailey, the club’s vice president.
"We thought the old formula was fair, but the judge disagreed," said Bailey, of Snohomish, who owns two cabins in the area. "We’ll certainly respect his decision."
Under the new formula, the club will be able to charge property owners, including nonmembers, Bailey said, adding that he doesn’t know what will happen if some people still refuse to pay.
One solution would be to hand over the road to the county, but that would take years, Bailey said.
The club charged each property owner $360 in the 2003-2004 fiscal year that ended Saturday, said Mark Bollman, a club board member.
All the money either has been spent on road maintenance or been saved to repair a bridge that was washed out several years ago, members said.
The club collected more than $100,000 for the bridge repair, said Bollman, who owns property in the area but doesn’t live there. The estimated cost to fix the bridge is between $350,000 and $400,000, court documents say.
As a result of the ruling, the club may not repair the bridge. The money would then be given back to those who made payments, Bailey said.
On the other hand, Van Dusen said some residents are trying to bypass the club and make contracts with road maintenance companies.
Those residents need to come up with a long-term solution, Van Dusen said. They may form a new homeowners association, have residents form a town or have the county take over the road.
Van Dusen said he doesn’t plan to reclaim money paid to the club in the past, because some roadwork was done. "I call it even," he said, adding that he’s not opposed to paying for road and bridge maintenance.
Van Dusen said the problem was that the club wouldn’t show its financial situation in detail. He and some other residents once offered to pay for an independent audit, but the club refused, Van Dusen said.
Bailey disagreed with that statement. A certified public account does an annual audit for the club, and residents may obtain a copy of it upon request, he said.
Meanwhile, the club will have its annual meeting today in Index to elect board members, Bollman said. All those who have paid dues can vote.
Van Dusen said even though he probably wouldn’t be allowed to attend, he plans to show up to inform others of the judge’s ruling.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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