Dues Credit Initiative

The Dues Credit Initiative is a way to give back to members when the Association has a particularly strong financial year.

Members are eligible to share in the Dues Credit surplus (and get a credit) if they have paid both dues billing periods in the fiscal year on time (within three months of each invoice).

How is the Dues Credit Calculated?

At the end of the fiscal year, if Equity records a significant surplus, a portion of that surplus is returned to eligible members as a credit toward the following year’s Basic Dues. A surplus is the amount remaining after the Association’s expenses have been paid from that year’s revenue.

A surplus is considered significant when:

all operating expenses have been covered
major planned projects have been funded
the Stabilization Fund has reached its required level, and
Equity’s reserves have received a 1% contribution

Once these requirements have been met, 50% of any remaining surplus is allocated to eligible members in the form of a credit toward the following year’s Basic Dues.

Example: Dues Credit in action

The following scenarios are theoretical but represent a range of typical financial outcomes, presented to illustrate how the Dues Credit Initiative would be calculated.

	Scenario 1	Scenario 2	Scenario 3
Revenue	$4.1 million	$4 million	$3.9 million
Expenses	$3.95 million	$3.95 million	$3.95 million
Surplus or Deficit	$150,000	$50,000	-$50,000
Equity Reserves (1% of revenue)	$41,000	$40,000	n/a
Stabilization Fund top up (if needed)	n/a	n/a	n/a
Major Project Budget (if needed)	n/a	n/a	n/a
Remaining Surplus	$109,000	$10,000	n/a
Surplus available for distribution (50%)	$54,500	$5,000	n/a
Members eligible for Dues Credit	4,300	4,300	4,300
Member Dues Credit Amount	$12.67	$1.16	$0

Definitions

Equity Reserves

In surplus years, Equity will invest 1% of the total revenue as a means of further protecting the sustainability of the Association. This is to cover any potential years where we are in a deficit.

Stabilization Fund

The Stabilization Fund, created by Equity Council nearly 40 years ago, is the “rainy day fund” that the Association can draw on in times of great need — the pandemic being a recent example (and thank goodness we had it!). Council Policies mandate that the Stabilization Fund be kept at a prescribed percentage of overall expenses, so a top up may be necessary if expenses have risen considerably or if money has been taken out of the Fund.

Major Project Budget

The Major Project Budget is an amount the Association might need to earmark for a specific initiative which carries a high cost — for example, technological upgrades to improve member services.