Should HOAs support the greater municipal community?

If Surprise, AZ — and other municipalities — seek the support from HOAs that dominate its jurisdiction[i], then the municipality must restore equal citizenship to the people of the municipality who are members of an HOA. The public policies at the state and  municipality levels, and any county or city/town leagues or associations, all support the independence of HOAs from constitutional protections and state laws.  HOA residents do not have the equal protection of the law nor due process protections, since HOAs are not subject to the 14^th Amendment as are all state entities.

If a municipality seeks assistance from HOA members as Surprise is seeking bond support, it must understand that the HOA, which is really the board, does not speak for the membership on political matters.  HOA members must be treated equally as all other citizens. There is no excuse or valid justification for this denial of equal treatment.

Be it as it may, why should Surprise be surprised that its policy of supporting islands of independent principalities —  the HOAs – produces behavior precisely consistent with its policy of separate and unequal communities within the municipality. The HOA  members probably feel that supporting tax increases for bonds issues for those other guys not in their HOA is unfair. They have their own private amenities.

This policy should be reevaluated by the Legislature, the Arizona Association of Counties, the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, and the municipalities. They should all support the following proposed statutory amendment:

HOA member Declaration of US and State citizenship 

Therefore, the members of the association, having not waived or surrendered their rights, freedoms, privileges and immunities as citizens of the United States under Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and as citizens of the state within which they reside, the CC&Rs or Declaration for any planned community, condominium association or homeowners association shall state, or be amended to comply, that,

‘The association hereby waives and surrenders any rights or claims it may have under law and herewith unconditionally and irrevocably agrees 1) to be bound by the US and State Constitutions, and laws of the State within which it is located, as if it were a subdivision of the state and a local public government entity, and 2) that constitutional law shall prevail as the supreme law of the land including over conflicting laws and legal doctrines of equitable servitudes.’

Maybe then a municipality may justify additional taxes on HOA members for the common good of the greater community.

References

[i] Tax hikes are tough sell in cities full of HOAs, Jeffrey Gibbs, Azcentral.com, June 7, 2016.