Righteous Indignation 2015
Prepare yourselves for my first righteously indignant post of 2015.
In today’s mail, we received a bill from The Kroenke Group for $1,224.97 for “CAM and Insurance” adjustments. And because our monthly Triple Net & Rent includes our portion for the insurance on the commercial building (that we don’t own, ahem), I assumed this was one of those weird bills you get this time of year that isn’t really a bill, just a statement to tell you where all your money went for 2014. EXCEPT IT WAS A LEGITIMATE BILL. The $1,224.97 is our portion of our yearly shortfall for insurance and monthly maintenance.
The bill also included an itemized listing of the expenses for the Rock Bridge Shopping Center in 2014. Please sit down before you read any further:
- Maintenance and Repair $127,710.28
- Electricity $14,888
- Refuse $998.68
- Canopy Light $6,267.00
- Landscaping $19,272.25
- Sweeping $45,441.25
- Mowing $14,746.43
- Asphalt Repair $20,791
- Snow Removal $50,082.65
- Striping $5,725
- Roof Repairs $3,172.06
- Custodial Service $21,787.50
- Security Line $1,770.45
- Storm Sewer $1,177.48
- Labor Cost $2,543.72
- TKG Office Management Expenses $9,100
My absolute favorite part of the bill was the itemized listing for “Holiday Decorations / $0.00″ So, essentially what this statement tells me is that we have holiday wreaths from 1967 and yet, the annual bill for sweeping is $45,441.25. And someone please email me immediately and tell me that the “sweeping” on the bill isn’t the sort of sweeping you do with a broom because $45K buys A LOT OF BROOMS. Also, I’ve never seen anyone sweep our parking lot or sidewalks. Ever. And every single morning, we vacuum our outdoor rug to get rid of the stray dryer lint dust from the dry cleaners and I feel like if I’m paying $21,787.50 for generic custodial service, we should get a day off from that now and then. Or maybe we should get to meet the custodian. Also? I would like a pamphlet on the security line. And I know I’m getting on my soapbox, but we had enough snow in 2014 to warrant $50,000 worth of removal? Are you getting my righteous indignation vibe quite yet?
I’m sure the requirement that we pay these additional charges were buried somewhere deep in our lease agreement and in my zeal to start World Pie Domination, I skimmed right on over it. (I like to think though that if there were an extra charge for sweeping, I would have noticed.)
All that said, I would be highly supportive of letting Silent Stan pay it all since HE OWNS THE PROPERTY and I would guess these items are the cost of doing business in the world of commercial real estate. And if we are all going to share in the costs, then perhaps our rent should just be raised to compensate for it…it is much better than getting a pricey bill during the slowest retail time of the year.
Just saying.