Same Hershey's Mill, Different Bills: Why the Village You Choose Shapes What You'll Pay

"Council unanimously approved a special assessment of $5000 to fund the remaining project costs, address 2026 cash flow shortfall, and stabilize capital reserves." That sentence is from the Village of Princeton's council minutes of August 26, 2026.

Princeton's 2026 budget, adopted the previous November, set the quarterly HOA fee at $2,440. A buyer who planned around that number had an accurate figure. It just didn't include the bill that arrived in late summer. In Hershey's Mill, the cost that sets one village apart from another usually isn't in the dues line. It sits in the village's capital reserve, and you see it only in the minutes and the resale paperwork.

The shared layer moves in step

Every Hershey's Mill home pays toward the Master Association, which runs the amenities all villages share. In 2026 that layer rose for the same reason everywhere. The Master Association signed a ten-year agreement with Vector Security for a new monitored alarm system, and the $23 monthly monitoring charge goes into each village's quarterly dues.

That makes the shared increases easy to follow. Princeton's Master Association costs went up $99 a quarter for 2026, and $69 of that was the alarms. Inverness Village's January 2026 newsletter put the Master Association increase at about 12.6% across villages and named the alarm system as part of the cause. Comparing villages on the shared layer alone won't tell you much. The alarm charge is the same in every village.

Where the villages split

Once you set the shared layer aside, each village has its own buildings, roofs, roads and reserve fund. Three villages published 2026 numbers that show how differently that can go.

Inverness has the highest quarterly fee of the three, and its roof work is the most predictable. Its April 2026 newsletter said the third phase would bring the village to 76 new or newer roofs by September, with 12 more roofs in 2027 and the last nine in a fifth phase in 2028. A buyer there can see which year's work their dues are funding. Princeton started 2026 with a lower fee, and its costs kept rising after the budget was set.

How one village's reserve ran short

Princeton's 2026 shows how a reserve problem builds, step by step, in the public record.

1. Late 2024 through 2025. Wood replacement began before a planned repaint. The village expected it to cost $175,000. Its capital reserve stood at $251,000 at the end of 2024, and by the November 20, 2025 budget meeting the cost estimate was close to $400,000, because the wood was in worse shape than expected.
2. The 2026 budget. Council raised each household's capital reserve contribution by $155 a quarter and agreed to pursue a short-term bank line of credit while that higher contribution rebuilt the account.
3. April 8, 2026. At a special meeting, Council chose Braulio General Contractors for the painting work, with a goal of starting the first week of May.
4. June 2026. The village reported receiving a $300,000 Meridian Bank line of credit, interest-only for the first year and principal and interest after that.
5. August 26, 2026. Wood repairs were averaging $2,829 per home for the first 39 units, and the estimate for all 69 units was $195,201. The treasurer's review found that projected costs exceeded available funding, including the line of credit, and Council approved the $5,000 special assessment. The target completion date is October 31.

Each step was disclosed and voted on in an open meeting, and the village explained its reasons as it went. None of it would have shown up in a quarterly fee quoted from the 2026 budget. The same August minutes also list walkway fences and mailbox kiosks to be assessed and prioritized in the 2027 budget.

The costs that land at settlement

Reserve funding also shapes what changes hands at closing, and that happens at two levels.

At the community level, the Master Association collects a Capital Improvement Fee each time a home sells. Its published explanation says the buyer usually pays it at settlement, that it can be up to twelve times the monthly HOA fee from the most recently completed fiscal year, and that the money is kept in a separate account for capital improvements only. That explanation dates to a 2021 report reprinted in 2023, so treat it as a formula. Confirm the current dollar amount for any home you are considering. The fee comes up often. At the January 8, 2026 Master Association meeting, the finance committee reported 99 CIF checks received for 2025 through late December.

At the village level, terms vary. Franklin Village charges a capital contribution at settlement equal to twice the quarterly assessment, a policy that applies to agreements and settlements on or after January 1, 2022. The money can be used only for capital improvements or replacement of common elements. At Franklin's January 2026 assessment of $2,200 a quarter, that works out to $4,400. Because the contribution is tied to the assessment, it goes up whenever dues do.

What the resale certificate has to disclose

Pennsylvania's Uniform Planned Community Act requires the seller to give the buyer the governing documents and a resale certificate. Under Section 5407, the certificate covers current and unpaid assessments, special assessments, other fees owed by the owner, proposed capital expenditures, reserves, and the current budget. The association has ten days from the owner's request to provide it. The buyer may void the purchase contract until the certificate is delivered and for five days afterward, or until conveyance, whichever comes first.

In Hershey's Mill, those disclosure categories line up with where the real differences between villages are. A Princeton certificate issued now would have to address the special assessment. An Inverness certificate would reflect a roof program with two phases still ahead. How the statute applies to a particular village depends on that village's recorded declaration, so a buyer should confirm the details with their attorney.

Sellers face a timing issue too. With a ten-day window for the association and a five-day review period for the buyer, ordering the certificate early keeps the contract from sitting in limbo. Listing early in a village that is still settling its budget means more of those questions can come up after the certificate is delivered.

Why this fall's budget meetings matter

The Master Association adopts its budget each October, on the first Thursday of the month. As of early October 2026, no proposed 2027 Master Association figure had appeared in its public minutes, which were posted only through June. Village calendars come next. Princeton planned to prepare its 2027 budget at an October 28 council meeting and hold an open budget meeting on November 19. Yardley's budget meeting is set for December 9, 2026, and its August minutes say a $10 quarterly charge for mandatory dryer-vent cleaning will be included in the 2027 Yardley budget.

A larger shared question is on hold for now. Through the winter, the Master Association negotiated to buy the Hershey's Mill Golf Club and Landscape division from the Wooldridge Organization. In January, its finance committee recommended suspending scheduled transfers from CIF to the replacement reserves until the outcome was known. At the March 5, 2026 meeting, Master Association president John Myatt reported that Berto Wooldridge was apparently no longer interested in selling at that time. At Princeton's November 2025 meeting, residents had asked what a Master Association purchase could cost the village's capital reserves, and the answer then was that no information was available yet. As of the latest minutes posted, that question is shelved, not settled.

Quick answers

Is a higher quarterly fee a warning sign? Not necessarily. In 2026, Inverness's fee was higher than Princeton's, but its roof replacement was running on a published multiyear schedule. Princeton's lower fee came with a line of credit and a special assessment.

Who pays a special assessment approved before closing? The resale certificate has to disclose special assessments and unpaid amounts. How the cost is split between buyer and seller is part of the purchase negotiation, and it is worth settling before the five-day review window closes.

Where can I read a village's minutes? Many villages post minutes and newsletters through hersheysmill.org, and some files link out to Google Drive folders. Check how recent each village's posted minutes are, because some folders lag by several months.

If you're weighing one Hershey's Mill village against another, or getting ready to sell before your village's 2027 budget comes out, Wagner Real Estate Group works from our Hershey's Mill office and can help you read the minutes, the reserve history and the resale certificate together. Get your free home valuation, and we'll include the village-level costs that belong in your net.