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Community Living

No monthly vote for recurring expenses

By RICHARD WHITE
Published August 6, 2005

Q. Does the fact that an item is in the budget allow the board to spend that money without a vote?

A. Recurring expenses - phone, utilities, water, trash pickup, insurance, other routine operational expenses - are typically considered to have been approved when the board approved the budget. No individual authorization is required each month.

An example may be helpful. Routine pool service and maintenance has its own budget line, and that bill can be paid monthly without further authorization. Now, suppose the pool pump is struck by lightning. Extensive repairs and a new pump are needed. Your insurance will pay for some of that, but other costs will not be covered by insurance. You need a board review, discussion, bids, and a vote to approve the work. This can take some time and will delay the repair work, so some boards authorize the president or manager to spend unbudgeted funds up to a limit - say, $1,000 - for emergency repairs. That way, work can start immediately. At the next board meeting a report of the expenses and repairs must be made, and the board must ratify the expenditure.

Q. The board's meeting agenda called for discussion of a contract proposal. The board discussed it but did not vote. Can the board decide after the meeting to approve the contract? Shouldn't contract approvals occur in the context of a meeting?

A.Decisions must be made at board meetings. The only exception I can think of is an emergency, when work must be done at once and the board cannot gather to approve it. Example: There's a problem with the elevator, the inspector arrives and says he'll shut it down unless repairs are made immediately. The president can authorize the work to avoid shutdown of the elevator. At the next board meeting, the president should make a report about what was done, and the board should vote to approve the action and the expenses.

If your board is routinely making decisions outside of meetings, you have problems, but once in a while, for real emergencies, doing so is acceptable.

Q. Our board voted 2 to 1 to approve a project. The director who opposed it has now contacted a lawyer to block the board's action. Are we still duty-bound to proceed with the project?

A. When an outside lawyer becomes involved in the way you describe, seek guidance from your association lawyer. In most situations the majority rules, and assuming the vote was legal and proper, it's enforceable. Sometimes, as in political parties, those who don't prevail on an issue take aggressive action, such as hiring a lawyer. Expect the next step to be negative publicity.

Richard White is a licensed community associations manager. Write to him c/o Community Living, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Sorry, he can't take phone calls or provide personal replies by mail, but you can e-mail him at CAMquestions@cfl.rr.com Please include your name and city. Questions should concern association operations; legal opinions cannot be offered. For specific legal advice, contact an association attorney.

Readers may call the state Division of Condominiums Bureau of Customer Service at toll-free 1-800-226-9101 with questions or requests for materials. Access the Bureau of Condominiums Web site at www.state.fl.us/dbpr/lsc/index.shtml or write to Bureau of Customer Service, 1940 N Monroe St., Northwood Centre, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1032.

Please note that this office provides no information about homeowners' associations. The state has no bureau or department covering those associations.

[Last modified August 5, 2005, 09:51:05]