The Leawood Estates Homes Association (LEHA) is in the process of reviewing our annual expenditures related to the care and maintenance of trees. This analysis has helped identify past trends and will assist in planning for future expenditures.
Background Information
Tree related expenses comprise approximately 30% of the association’s budget - the only larger expense is the trash/recycling service. Over the last 10 years, our expenses for tree-related care have increased more than 63% between 2015 and 2024. Several factors are contributing to this upward trend in annual costs for tree maintenance.
• Many of the trees are approaching their life expectancy. These larger/more mature trees are more susceptible to disease and wind/storm damage.
• COVID had a major impact on the skyrocketing of labor & material costs, especially related to the removal of dead street trees and storm debris.
• The frequency and severity of storms in recent years have increased the sheer magnitude of storm debris and overall damage to the trees.
• The Emerald Ash Borer infestation in the Kansas City area threatens the health of all Ash trees, which added the cost of chemical treatments.
One important point of clarification:
The Association helps maintain the approximately 4,000 “street trees” – those trees located approximately 12 to 15 feet from the street curb – as a benefit to our homeowners. However, these “street trees” are NOT owned by LEHA nor the City of Leawood. Rather, homeowners own their respective “street trees” and are ultimately responsible for them. With that in mind, we are interested in getting your thoughts on the questions below.
LEHA currently provides the following services for "street trees" in our association:
- Clean-up after severe storms, in co-operation with the City of Leawood.
- Broken/Fallen limb removal and on-request trimming of street trees.
- Scheduled zoned trimming of street trees in the association every 4 years.
- Dead/Diseased street tree removal.
- Emerald Ash Borer chemical treatments.
- Replacement/Replanting of street trees.
Survey Questions: