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Community living: Get professional help with finances
By RICHARD WHITE Question: We send out our assessment notices in November for the following year. Payments are due Jan. 1. If homeowners pay early, as in November or December, these collections are used to pay expenses for the current year instead of the year they were collected for. Last year, dues for 2001 collected in November or December 2000 were used to pay year 2000 expenses. I think depositing the collections in 2000 doesn't mean you can spend them in 2000. As a result, we end up short each year unless we follow the same practice. I think this practice was started several years ago to avoid raising our annual assessment or to avoid taking money from the reserve fund to pay for current expenses. This seems irregular at best, maybe even illegal. Any suggestions? Answer: This is a common procedure in many associations. In your case the association is using funds early. Many associations hold bills and pay the next month. The association should havea CPA prepare the end-of-year report, which will pick up these variances. Keep in mind that the fees collected are based on a budget. Since the budget is a projection, the collections may not equal the actual expenses. The CPA may be able to make suggestions as to how to draft your budget to meet your expenses more closely. Setting the agendaQuestion: Who decides what goes on the agenda for a board meeting? Where can this be found in Chapter 718? Answer: FS 718.112 and FS 720.303 define the board of directors meeting. The board is responsible for establishing the agenda. Read your bylaws to determine if the officers or a specific officer is authorized to publish the agenda. Normally,the president will ask the directors if they have any agenda items and then will have the secretary or manager publish the agenda. Unit owners who wish to have an item placed on the agenda should write a letter to the board before the meeting. The board or the president may decide not the place that item on the agenda. That is certainly their right, but politically it may be a poor decision. Workers should carry liability, comp coverageQuestion: Our association hires a person who lives in our condominium to do maintenance and repair work. This person is not a licensed contractor. If an accident occurs, could a claim be filed against the association? Would our liability insurance cover this claim? Answer: If a hired worker were injured while working on association property, likely it would be a worker's compensation claim, not a liability claim. The association should require that anyone working on the property carry the proper liability and workers' compensation coverage. No exemption or waiver will discharge a claimagainst an association if there is an injury. Is the association filing the proper tax reports on this worker? Any time a worker or contractor is paid a tax report should be filed. Failure to do so may be a violation of the IRS laws. Contact your insurance agent and your CPA. Ask them the questions, then seek your attorney's advice. * * * Write to Richard White, 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@att.net. 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 1-800-226-9101 with questions or requests for materials. 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. You can access the Bureau of Condominiums Web site at www.state.fl.us/dbpr/html/lsc/co_page.html.
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