20210120-Accounting Update and Letter (pdf version)

Jan 19, 2022

Dear Neighbors, 

We hope you have been enjoying the colorful lighting during these short days and long nights.  Here is your yearly update on the lighting finances, a request for contributions, and a little extra info we think is interesting.  Enjoy!   

A brief history

In January of 1999 the residents of this block took advantage of a matching grant program offered by the city.  Each of the 24 households contributed about $200 to have 7 decorative lamps installed at a total cost of $9,695, of which the city paid half.  Each lamp was hooked into the power meter of the house it sits in front of, and those neighbors continue to pay for the electricity to keep them lit throughout the year. The rest of the neighbors chip in some dollars, traditionally at an annual neighborhood social, to help with maintenance costs and decorations. The Streetlamp Committee replaces bulbs, sensors, purchases seasonal decorations, and arranges repair of any damage that is beyond our expertise.  We are sad that the last couple of years have not been ideal for meeting you all at a social.

Lamp maintenance fund

The original organizers thought it was prudent to try to keep $300 reserved in a savings account in order to help pay for repairs. At that time a replacement globe was $72.  As of 2020 that price has risen to $123!  In October, 2020 you all came through with flying colors after our terrible wind storm and contributed a total of $360.  After paying for wind repairs, and some new fall decorative string lights, we still have $142 remaining in the account.  We even collected $30 in promotional dollars from Venmo and Amazon to contribute to the pot!  If we could raise $10 from each of the 17 non-lamp households, that would fully fund our repair account, putting us in a good position to keep our lights maintained.  

How to contribute

There are several ways you can get the funds to us.  You can bring cash or a check to our home, or you can Zelle or Venmo the money directly to an account we set up for the street lamps at Key Bank.  (See below)

Website

We created a street lamp website in order to share more details with you. The website includes historical information, and links to the accounting of income and expenses, along with copies of receipts. Please visit it at: https://wilsonavestreetlights.braymen.net

Contact and payment info

• ADDRESS: 1774 E Wilson (South side, grey house, yellow door)
• PHONE/TEXT: 760-315-0676 (Elizabeth’s cell)
• EMAIL: wilsonstreetlighting@gmail.com
• ZELLE DIRECTLY TO KEY BANK: wilsonstreetlighting@gmail.com
• VENMO: @Wilson-StreetLighting or wilsonstreetlighting@gmail.com
• MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Elizabeth Braymen

Please feel free to text, call, or email us if you ever have any questions.  

Thank you!

Elizabeth and Chris Braymen

(The Lighting “Committee”)

Accounting for Sept 1, 2020 to Jan 19, 2022 – Receipt links are available on the web site.

Here is some interesting info from an email exchange we had with David Pearson, who is the Street Lighting Manager for Salt Lake City.  We were curious to know if other blocks with lighting followed the same maintenance account model that we do.  His response:

The City does not maintain records of who has financial responsibility for the lights.  I know there are some neighborhoods similar to yours that maintain an escrow or managed fund to help maintain the lights.  Everywhere else it is up to the individual homeowner to maintain.  Often neighborhoods like yours have the nicest looking lights where the majority are functioning properly.

I was also interested to know if the private ownership and power responsibility that we have with our neighborhood lights was the same for all of the surrounding streets.  He assured me that it is, and sent an interesting map.  I’ve highlighted our street in yellow.

Below is a map of the lighting in your area.  The red dots represent private lights.  The purple dots are City-owned lights. All red-dots are maintained and operated by the property owners.  They pay the power bill and must maintain the lights.

Here is another interesting view of a larger section of Salt Lake City, with our tiny neighborhood section highlighted in yellow in the middle of the image.  The red, privately owned, lights are more densely placed than the purple city lights on other neighborhood streets.    The full interactive map can be view here.

Oct. 12, 2020

Dear neighbors, 

My name is Elizabeth, and my husband Chris and I have been the caretakers of the streetlamps on our block for 2 years. 

A very brief history

Sometime in the 90’s people in many neighborhoods throughout SLC pooled their money and, with financial help from the city, paid to install these old-timey lamps. Each lamp on our street was hooked into the power meter of the house it sits in front of, and those neighbors continue to pay to keep them lit for us throughout the year. The rest of the neighbors chip in some dollars, usually annually at a neighborhood social, to help with maintenance costs and decorations. The Streetlamp Committee (in this case, Chris and I) replace bulbs, sensors, purchase seasonal decorations, and arrange repair of any damage that is beyond our expertise.  

Lamp maintenance fund

Records indicate the last time the neighborhood contributed to the maintenance fund was in 2013!  The ask is usually $10 per household, but since it’s been a while, and we have additional costs this year, we are asking that you contribute $20 per household. 

We currently have $37 in the Key Bank account that we set up for lamp post maintenance.  This year a tree fell and smashed one of the lamp globes, and our old holiday lighting stopped working, so Chris and I used our personal funds to pay for the replacements at a cost to us of $242.00. If we could raise $20 from each of the 17 non-lamp households we would have enough to reimburse the Braymens, and raise our bank account reserve to $135.  This is still short of the historic desire to keep a $300 balance in the account, but it is a good start and we can continue to build that balance in future years.

How to contribute

There are several ways you can get the funds to us.  You can bring cash or a check to our home, or you can Zelle the money directly to an account we set up for the street lamps at Key Bank.  (See below)

Website

We created a street lamp website just in case you want more details.  The website includes historical information, lamp post news, and links to the accounting of income and expenses, along with copies of receipts.  https://wilsonavestreetlights.braymen.net

Contact and payment info

• ADDRESS: 1774 E Wilson (South side, grey house, yellow door)
• PHONE/TEXT: 760-315-0676 (Elizabeth’s cell)
• EMAIL: wilsonstreetlighting@gmail.com
• ZELLE DIRECTLY TO KEY BANK: wilsonstreetlighting@gmail.com
• VENMO: @Wilson-StreetLighting or wilsonstreetlighting@gmail.com
• MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Elizabeth Braymen

Please feel free to text, call, or email us if you ever have any questions.  

Thank you!

Elizabeth and Chris Braymen