SaddleBrooke One · The Communicator · February 2026
SaddleBrooke One HOA news, February 2026: resale fee vote, arts center
Blaine Bond’s digest of HOA One’s February 2026 newsletter: what the board and staff decided, in plain words, with the source linked at the end. Not the association’s own text.
The short version
What changed in February 2026
- Owners vote starting February 23, 2026 on raising the Home Resale Fee from $3,160 (one year of dues) to $4,740 (1.5 years of dues); the fee is paid by the buyer at closing and funds reserves.
- The HOA’s own comparison shows SaddleBrooke Two charges $5,505 at resale, Sun City Oro Valley $4,050 and Dove Mountain’s Highlands $5,058.
- The Creative Arts & Wellness Center renovation design was approved in 2025 and is slated to finish in 2026.
- The Roadrunner Grill patio got retractable shades and a new outdoor grill, and a new club software system goes live in May.
- Two long-time front-office administrators retired and two new front-desk clerks joined in late 2025.
- Ten new households were welcomed across nine units, including two in Unit 21.
- The draft 2025 books show golf made $202,655, the restaurants lost $307,570, and the HOA ended the year with $11.2 million in cash and $7.7 million set aside for capital reserves.
What it means for buyers
The dues stay at $3,160 a year either way; what the vote changes is the one-time buyer fee at closing, so anyone shopping SaddleBrooke One in early 2026 should ask which rate applies to their contract (the increase later failed, so $3,160 held). The arts-center rebuild and patio upgrades show reserve money going into amenities rather than sitting idle.
Every decision in this issue
The details, item by item
| Home Resale Fee vote | Board approved a homeowner vote on raising the HRF, the one-time fee a buyer pays at resale of an existing home, deposited to Reserve/Capital Funds. Current CSF $3,160; current HRF $3,160 (1x CSF); proposed $4,740 (1.5x CSF). Voting “scheduled for February 23, 2026”, electronic ballot to owners with an email on file. Paid by the buyer unless buyer and seller agree otherwise; no effect on current owners’ dues. |
|---|---|
| Peer HRF comparison printed by the HOA | SaddleBrooke Two $5,505; Highlands at Dove Mountain $5,058; Sun City Oro Valley $4,050; Sun City Grand $5,000; Sun Lakes Cottonwood $5,000; Sun Lakes Iron Oaks $5,922. |
| Creative Arts & Wellness Center | Design completed and Board-approved in 2025 (Operations, P&R, volunteer architects/engineers, hundreds of user input); completion expected in 2026. |
| Other 2025 P&R work | Retractable shades on the Roadrunner Grill patio and grill; native/drought-tolerant plantings in common areas; Fine Arts Guild wall art on Ridgeview Blvd; 6-ft ceramic roadrunner “Roadie” on the RRG patio; new Master Facilities Planning Sub-committee for long-range facility plans. P&R Chair Tim Mahanna. |
| 2025 full-year results (draft income statement, 12/31/2025) | CSF and other HOA revenue $6,419,996 (budget $6,392,531); Home Resale Fee revenue $357,420 (about 113 resales at $3,160); HOA net income $2,145,110 vs $1,977,245 budgeted; golf net income +$202,655 (budget $262,823); restaurants −$307,570 (budget −$320,799); roads $442,962; net income before depreciation $1,597,233 (budget $1,409,009); after $1,848,532 of depreciation and $76,774 of taxes, total net income $11,331 (budget −$271,067). |
| Balance sheet 12/31/2025 (draft) | Total cash $11,159,405: operating $3,449,785, replacement reserve $4,755,578, Capital Improvement Fund $2,954,041 (from $10,512,798 a year earlier). Total assets $32,349,557; deferred revenue $4,039,579; total liabilities $5,141,545; members’ equity $27,208,011, of which $7,709,619 designated for capital reserves. 2025 reserve + CIF activity: contributions $3,401,200 (reserve $2,042,600 + CIF $1,358,600), interest $264,848, capital spending $1,503,069 (operations and amenities $1,077,432, golf $368,624, F&B $57,013); ending $7,709,619 from $5,546,641. |
| Board roster (name strip, heading not in text layer) | Len Alcantara, Donna Gruninger, Joe O’Connor, Tom Swikoski, Steve Bellacqua, Jo Ann Ellison, Marty O’Shea, John Ansay. |
| Staff changes | Front Office Administrator Melanie Vermeulen retiring (almost five years); Senior Office Administrator Karen Hill retired (over eight years). New Front Desk Clerks Amber Love-Bunce (Oct 2025) and Susanna Fitzpatrick (Nov 2025). GM Vivian Timian; Director of Golf Mike Roddy; F&B Director Kelly Evans. |
| Golf course condition | Warmest December on record, then morning lows below 25 on the courses; frost protection in effect. Mowing heights dropping through Feb (greens .190″ to .175″; fairways .600″ to .450″; overseeded rough 1.75″ to 1.5″). Pace-of-play push: tee sheet often full. |
| Food & Beverage | NorthStar club software: first in-person training in January, hardware ordered, go-live targeted for May. New outdoor grill and patio shades in use. |
| New owners welcomed | 10 households, Units 3, 5, 6, 11, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21 (two). |
Source: SaddleBrooke HOA One, The Communicator, February 2026: read the issue. Summaries are Blaine’s; the recorded CC&Rs, HOA One’s current Rules and a home’s resale disclosure govern.
Buying in SaddleBrooke One?Blaine reads every issue and attends the meetings. Ask which of these items touch the home you are looking at.