Service Charges

All Lake Junaluska property owners pay annual fees to cover the expenses of services provided by Lake Junaluska Assembly Public Works. These fees are commonly referred to as Service Charges and are based on property tax values as established by the Haywood County Tax Assessors Office. Please refer to Number 15 in the Rules and Regulations of the Lake Junaluska Assembly for information on what these fees pay for.

Rule 15: Each owner shall pay such service charges as are fixed from time to time by the Lake Junaluska Assembly, Inc. Board of Trustees for the purpose of paying reasonable and specific expenses associated with the upkeep, maintenance, and related costs that benefit residents of the Assembly grounds, which may include, but not be limited to, security protection, street maintenance, street lighting, drainage maintenance, bulk waste and green waste collection, and administrative costs of Lake Junaluska Assembly Public Works in providing such services.


 

Service Charge Collection Policy

Lake Junaluska Assembly Inc. has a long-established practice to fund establishment, operation and maintenance of certain community infrastructure and security services, along with funding Public Works administration, by utilizing service charges in an amount approved annually by the Lake Junaluska Assembly Board of Trustees. Billed annually, service charges are collected at the beginning of the year from Lake Junaluska Assembly property owners.
The Public Works Department is responsible for administering a collections program to manage overdue services charge accounts under the following policies and practices approved by the Lake Junaluska Assembly Board of Trustees:

  1. Each year, the Public Works Department will send service charge bills to property owners for the upcoming year’s bill in November, with payment due January 31, of that year.
  2. Following a 30 day grace period at the beginning of March a one-time 10% late charge will be assessed on March 1 for each account on all unpaid service charges owed.
  3. To notify property owners that their service charge account is past due, the Public Works Department will send a letter advising of the amount owed and requesting payment.
  4. At least a month following the notification letter, the Public Works Department will attempt phone contact with property owners whose service charges are past due, advising of the account delinquency and requesting payment.
  5. At least a month following phone calls, the Public Works Department will send a second letter, advising of a planned filing of a lien or small claims court action based on the following schedule:
    • a: For accounts owing overdue service charges only from the immediate past year, no lien or court action will be filed.b. b: For accounts owing overdue service charges for two or more years, a lien shall be filed with Haywood County for all service charges owed.
      c. For accounts owing overdue service charges for five or more years, a court action, typically in small claims court, shall be filed.
  6. At any time while overdue service charges collections actions are in progress, at the request of the property owner, the Public Works Director may approve a payment plan with the property owner of up to 6 months duration to pay off the account balance.