Adding Unusual Budget Items? Assesments?

Hi, this is my first post, so please go easy on me ;)

I have an interesting topic which I could use a bit of advice.
We are located in Northwest suburb of Illinois.
I am a current board member.(1st year)

We have a rather large subdivision which due to the developer has 14 individual sets of covenants. ( NO MASTER )
During the 2006 / 2007 real-estate crunch they folded and turned over the HOA to the residents. We were in a dire financial situation but managed to recover despite the large number of foreclosures & bankruptcies.
The community is about 60% built out with a new potential builder working to buy up about 45 lots.
Things are improving a bit!

All that said,
we have a unique situation concerning a landscaping issue.
More specifically, the Emerald Ash Bore, a village ordinance, and who needs to pay for tree replacements in village controlled open space area's.
These tree's must be removed due to a recently implemented ordinance as well as most are dead or dying.

Many of the tree's are on village deeded property, these area's were turned over to the village. Many of the tree's have died, many have been removed and for all practical purposes it leaves the area looking very empty.
Our village did collect a large dollar amount on the developer bond to complete a few projects though it was primarily used for final top coat on roads.

Cutting to the Chase,

Last night at our board meeting we discussed replacing these tree's with HOA funded replacements by adding it to our annual landscaping budget? Replacements are between $10,000 & $12,000 this season.

My question is basically, can we use HOA funding on NON-HOA property? (90% Open Space & 10% Parkway) Or do we need to have a special assessment vote?

One resident mentioned he felt it should be " On The Village " through our recently increased SSA.
Another mentioned it should be a bond checklist issue covered by the village.
It was also mentioned that the village basically rejected doing any further tree replacements due to lack of funding.
" Not In The Budget " Typically they always had a 50 / 50 program on parkway trees, but we were informed that in this case they would not do it.
They would remove the dead tree's, but not replace.

Which way do we go?

Sara

Thank you so much for the response.
Yes, the tree's are located on Village Property.
We have several open space area's & entrances here affected as well as Army Corps controlled ponds.
The original developer planted Ash Tree's throughout the subdivisions open spaces prior to the Ash Tree ban & those area's being turned over to the village.

Once the invasive bugs started infesting the area these tree's almost instantly became a problem.
The village mandated that all ash trees be removed.
A Quote from The Village website;
" The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been located our village and several other locations in Kane County and in Illinois. The Village will be dealing with village-owned ash trees affected in public parks and along our parkways. Trees on private property will need to be dealt with by the property owner."

We, the HOA have been doing our fair share of replacing these tree's on HOA controlled property. We are working hard to to keep this place looking good but the village seems to be the weak link.

Our HOA President seems to just want to " As a matter of fact" Put this in the budget even though a couple of us know it is not truly the proper way to implement this.

I searched over our CCR's several times and there is nothing pointing in either direction.

My fear is that it might cause unwanted litigation & also set a precedent of letting the village off the hook on future items.

Bottom line is you can not do any replacement on any property without the owners permission. In your case, that would be the village. Therefore, you should look into that as well. The Village may have specific requirements you have to follow as well. Therefore, that will need to be discussed upon getting the permission. You should also discuss who will be responsible for the new trees and who will be paying to water the newly planted trees (as that can be an expense).

Once you have all of that ironed out, then you will know the costs involved and if your Association can afford it.

As to the authority to spend Association funds to maintain non-association property (be it operating funds or funds gained by a special assessment) you need to consult your governing documents. Typically, the documents specify what the assessments may be used for and that is normally limited to the common areas and common amenities.

If this is the case with your governing documents, then I would recommend not doing the project. This is because if your governing documents say you can't use assessments to maintain non-association property, then doing so would open you up to potential legal action from a member.