Assesesments for common expenses

My husband and I live in a Condo Assoc. made up of individual units. These units are deeded property consisting of a house and land. Lawn care and snow removal is provided by the Assoc. and is a common fee.

The Declaration says The Assoc. is responsible for maintenance, repair and replacement of roofs and siding and it shall be a common fee. Our Declaration also says any common fee that benefits less than all shall be assessed against those units benefited.

Recently it came to our attention that repairs have been made to mailboxes(on privately owned lots), some gutters repaired and replaced and decorative fences along the front of homes. All of this was paid out of common fees and not billed back to the unit owners who benefited.

A majority of the owners believed when they purchased here that they only owned from the rafters in and expect everything on the outside to be a common expense paid by all.

The board members represent this majority and refuse to honor the Declaration.

The state statute of CIOA Sec. 47-257 states in part : To the extent required by the Declaration, assessments for common expenses benefiting fewer than all may be assessed against the units benefited.

I'm a little troubled by the language of 'may be assessed' vs. our Declaration saying shall be assessed. Also, what does the state statute mean "To the extent required by the Declaration"? In this situation does it mean that our Declaration trumps?

I know you can't give me legal advice but would appreciate your opinion.

What KellyM3 said.

Suppose the HOA did NOT pay for gutter repair. The logical conclusion would be that the HOA should not pay for your roof when it leaks, because it only leaks into your unit.

There is not a requirement that all HOA-paid repairs be done to all units at the same time, only that they be done when required.

Having said that- an important decision to be made by the board is when to repair all units (because all units may not need repair, but the cost/ unit will be less) and when to patch only the trouble areas.

We are standalone patio homes. Our association pays (via our dues) for all outside home maintenance and landscaping. As our homes were built over 7 year time frame, various maintenance will be done over a time frame, not all at once.

Had a similar incident recently. Had to re-sod one front lawn as it had died. Some neighbors complained that the newly sodded lawn looked better and they wanted their re-sodded. You just cannot please everyone.