At least once a year, the board of every cooperative housing corporation shall, after first setting aside an adequate portion of the net savings in a reserve fund for the general operation of the business, apportion the remainder of the net savings in one or more of the following ways:

(1)  As a dividend not to exceed ten percent (10%), noncumulative, upon one or more classes of stock;

(2)  As an equitable distribution or refund to all patrons in proportion to their individual patronage except that:

(i)  In the case of a subscriber patron, the distribution or refund may be credited to the subscriber’s account until the subscription has been fully paid; and

(ii)  In the case of a nonmember patron, the amount otherwise distributable may be retained by the cooperative housing corporation;

(3)  This section does not prevent a cooperative housing corporation from disposing of the net savings by reducing the cost of goods, facilities, or services or by applying the net savings otherwise for the common benefit of members or stockholders;

(4)  This section does not prevent a cooperative housing corporation from adopting a system by which the payment of net savings is deferred for a fixed period of time, nor from adopting a system in which the net savings distributed are partly in cash and partly in stock.