Fiscal Year 2026 MCA Budget Proposal

by Matt Mullin, President, president@mantua.org

Holiday time means budget time for the MCA, and this year’s budget reflects our ongoing commitment to

improving and beautifying our shared spaces. The MCA bylaws require that members vote on a proposed

budget each year, and the MCA board has unanimously voted to propose the below budget to the membership.

You can vote on the budget proposal at https://forms.gle/wn6B4XZmpHtVjqWg7. A full explanation of the

proposal follows below.

As in the past several years, MCA expects to run a substantial deficit in FY26, as our cash reserves exceed

more than five years of operating expenses. Cash reserves are meant to be spent on projects that substantially

benefit the community, so the board must be prudent in identifying areas that can do the most good.

The MCA’s cash reserves come primarily from one-time infusions, such as those following the Texaco gas

leak, as well as an accumulation of years of underspending revenues.

In this year’s budget, we have identified the expenses that are “required,” such as insurance and our annual

landscaping contract for the entrances at Barkley and Prince William. By keeping our required expenses be-

low income, members can see what our costs might look like if we did not invest extra from our cash reserves

for improvements. Current required expenses are around $15,000 per year vs. expected income of around

$22,000.

Key changes include:

Income:

• We are estimating somewhat higher income because of the dues increase to $25 that went into effect on

April 1 this year.

• We have combined the Dues and Hard Copy Newsletter Fee line items, which helps our treasurer to more

easily report on income.

Expenses:

• The Technology/Webmaster budget will decrease by $10,000 in FY26, as we had a large one-time cost to

build a new website. The new MCA website is expected to launch by the end of December.

• The Infrastructure/Landscaping Improvements line will increase by $2,000 to accommodate plans to

replace beds at the entrance at Prince William. This is a combination of fixing some plants that were run

over by a car in Fall ’25 as well as replacing some of the beds of liriope.

• The Community Event Support Fund will decrease, as much of that line item had been devoted to support

for Moms of Mantua. Those funds have instead been transferred to Hospitality, and will continue to

support those events under the MCA.

• The Dues & Off-site Rentals line will decrease by $700, which reflects the MCA’s cancellation of off-site

storage. Board members have agreed to hold the items that were stored there, which included signage,

archives, and holiday decorations.

Members have until December 1 to approve/reject the budget for next year.

Vote at https://forms.gle/wn6B4XZmpHtVjqWg7.

For questions on the budget, email me at president@mantua.org.