Columbia (Map, News) - While some Columbia villages want money for new pool furniture and replacement carpeting in community centers, some groups are calling for the Columbia Association to be more fiscally responsible.

“You are in a negative cash flow, and have been for some time,” Alex Hekimian, president of Alliance for a Better Columbia, told Columbia Association board members Thursday, adding, “every dollar could put CA further in debt.”

The association’s Planning and Strategic Committee heard residents’ input on changes to the fiscal 2008 budget.

The board is considering changes to the capital budget that would add $547,000 in expenses.

The association’s total budget for fiscal 2008 is more than $50 million.

Hekimian’s group has “long advocated for fiscal responsibility by reigning in CA’s expenditures,” he said, asking the board to find other items in the budget to reduce spending.

Gregg Schwind, a member of the Hickory Ridge Village board, echoed the sentiment. He asked the Columbia Association board to “look at the amendments with the mindset that says we will do this with our present means.”

Schwind said the association needed to continue to reduce long-term debt, and that increased spending would mean increased debt.

However, Miles Coffman, who represents Hickory Ridge on the Columbia Association board, said Hekimian is not always right on the financials.

Although there is a negative cash flow, the association has reduced the debt each year, he said.

“CA is financially very healthy,” he said, and the gap between its income and the long-term debt has been narrowing.

The association collects a percentage of the assessed value of homes in Columbia. Hekimian said this collection of funds is like a “mandated tax” and should make the association accountable to residents — which would mean living within its means.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com