04/01/2015

APA Ohio Proposes Chapter Dues Increase

At the November 21, 2014 Board meeting, the APA Ohio Chapter Board of Trustees began exploring an increase to the Chapter’s membership dues. Board approval is requested on April 24, 2015, for implementation by October 1, 2015.  The recommendation is based on the following three primary considerations:

• APA Ohio has increased its member services in recent years, principally through managing online event registrations and administering the highly successful webcast consortium; however, the Chapter’s two primary sources of income (membership rates and conference profits) have remained flat.
• APA Ohio has adopted an imbalanced budget with expenses exceeding income over the previous three fiscal years (FY 2013, 2014, 2015).
• In recent years, APA National has recommended that Chapters standardize their membership dues. Currently, APA encourages Chapters to adopt a percentage-based dues rate (25%, 35%, or 45% of national dues, which are based on member salary); however, APA is considering requiring Chapters to standardize their dues within the next few years.

APA Ohio dues have not changed since 2006, when individual annual membership rates increased from $35 to $45.

The APA Ohio Chapter Treasurer has recommended to the Board of Trustees that the Chapter dues increase as follows:

Note: APA charges their membership dues based on member salary. The Chapter membership would be 25% of the APA dues only, not including any additional fees for AICP or other Division memberships.

APA Ohio Chapter members are encouraged to review the APA Ohio Chapter Dues Increase Report and recommendations and submit questions and comments via our online form, or by contacting APA Ohio Chapter Treasurer, Rachel Ray, AICP, at rray@dublin.oh.us. Comments submitted by Thursday, April 23, 2015 will be provided to the APA Ohio Chapter Board members prior to the meeting.