Planned communities, mostly
Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard, Tualatin and Sherwood hold a large share of the county's associations, and the county seat is Hillsboro. Neighborhoods such as Bethany and Orenco Station were planned around shared streets, open space and walking paths, with townhome and condominium pockets mixed in.
For a planned community the reserve list is usually short but long-lived: private streets and alleys, stormwater facilities, fences and walls, mailbox clusters, play equipment, monument signs and landscape lighting. Paving tends to dominate the 30-year numbers.
Smaller subdivisions should check their class. Under ORS 94.570, the reserve section does not apply to a Class II planned community created on or after January 1, 2002, and the class turns on the number of lots and the size of the assessment (ORS 94.550). If the board is unsure, the association's attorney can confirm it from the declaration.
Where the money goes here
- Private streetsSlurry seal, crack sealing and an eventual overlay. The timing of the overlay is the single number most likely to move the funding plan.
- Stormwater ponds and swalesSediment removal and replanting come round on long cycles and are easy to leave out of an older study.
- Fences and wallsPerimeter cedar fencing weathers quickly in a wet climate; many associations replace it in sections.
- Play areasEquipment and safety surfacing have short lives compared with the rest of the list.
Finding the association's documents
Planned community declarations and plats are recorded with Washington County's recording office. A firm will want the declaration to see which parts the association maintains, since that decides what goes in the reserve list.
The rules are statewide
There is no separate Washington County reserve rule. Condominiums follow ORS 100.175 and planned communities ORS 94.595, and both ask the board to review the study every year. See the annual review for a cycle that keeps the cost down.
Typical fees
As a guide, a full study with a site visit runs about $1,500 to $5,000 for a 30-home condominium and $2,000 to $8,000 for a 100-home planned community, with a desk update for the same community at about $500 to $4,000. These are national figures drawn from fees firms publish, and not a quote. Travel can add to fees outside the Portland area. Try the estimator for your own numbers.