Right. And getting the loan serves the same purpose as a fully funded reserve: it spreads the cost of major infrequent expenses out over a long time so that everyone pays an incremental part of it. Otherwise, the owner who buys a condo the day after the parking lot was paved gets 25+ years of use out of an asset that he didn’t pay for — and vice versa.
For a major project at my complex the Association got a loan. Monthly dues were increased. The loan was paid off early due to belt tightening and the monthly dues were lowered a tiny bit.