Dues to support parish fire department

Started by JeanI • 15 replies • 1583 views

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JeanI (Louisiana)
Posts: 112

Posted:

The president of a homeowners association is proposing to increase membership dues $24.00 per year and dedicate that money to the parish volunteer department. A parish-wide tax increase was voted down by the citizens and the president thinks his association should subside the government agency through mandatory collection of dues on every resident in the association community. The
association's Act of restrictions specifically states that dues are collected for the purpose of maintaining common property. The president argues that supporting the public fire department serves to promote the safety and welfare of the membership. Your thoughts on this issue would be appreciated. JeanI

MarkM31 (Washington)
Posts: 556

Posted:

While noble, this should be voted down

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Depends on how your fire dept is setup. In some towns, if you dont pay the fire dept dues, they will let your home burn down. No pay, no spray. I dont know if that is the case for your town.

RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 163

Posted:

Steve

That is a very good point! $24.00 might be a very small price to pay for the extra security and it might even help on the insurance rates.

AmandaR2 (South Carolina)
Posts: 566

Posted:

It's your community if you all vote it in I can't see it being a problem, especially if any of the points brought up by others are true in your state/county.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

I agree with Amanda.

Although the Board choosing to make such a contribution on their own would, I believe, be inappropriate. I see no issue with bringing the issue to the membership for a vote.

If the membership approves, then so be it.
If the membership fails to approve, then the President should drop the issue.

I also believe that the vote should be of the entire membership (not just those who normally show up at meetings). It should require 50% + 1 to pass.

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SteveM9 on 04/20/2015 8:28 AM
Depends on how your fire dept is setup. In some towns, if you dont pay the fire dept dues, they will let your home burn down. No pay, no spray. I dont know if that is the case for your town.

If individual homeowners want to pay money towards the fire department, that's great. I don't see any reason the HOA should. I would vote against this. If the president is the only board member supporting this, then it should fail in any case. If the majority of the board support it, then it will probably pass. If homeowners feel that this is an inappropriate use of dues per the CCRs, then they would have to sue the association to reverse the vote.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

NpS (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 4,216

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TimB4 on 04/20/2015 9:05 AM
I also believe that the vote should be of the entire membership (not just those who normally show up at meetings). It should require 50% + 1 to pass.

If you oppose the measure and you are confident that the needed services will be available, you should ask for a super-majority vote for the $24 fee to pass - the same percentage that is required to amend CC&Rs - which in effect, is what you are doing.

Sikubali jukumu. Read all posts at your own risk.

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JeanI on 04/20/2015 7:54 AM
The president of a homeowners association is proposing to increase membership dues $24.00 per year and dedicate that money to the parish volunteer department. A parish-wide tax increase was voted down by the citizens and the president thinks his association should subside the government agency through mandatory collection of dues on every resident in the association community. The
association's Act of restrictions specifically states that dues are collected for the purpose of maintaining common property. The president argues that supporting the public fire department serves to promote the safety and welfare of the membership. Your thoughts on this issue would be appreciated. JeanI

Hi Jean,

Not knowing the local politics of the tax hike rejection......

Maybe $2/month is too steep for a single dues increase to allocate to the volunteer fire department so a counter offer might by more applicable.

I could support an HOA's financial support of the volunteer fire department as an insurance and safety matter as I don't consider donations to fund core services as a charitable contribution. It's an insurance hedge. What's attractive about the entire community making a contribution is that the ENTIRE community receives the favorable branding from supporting the volunteer fire dept.

But back to the $2/month fee hike....that would be a tough sell in my neighborhood for the amount (4.8% increase in my HOA's case) but I believe I could sell the vision.

This is a good inquiry.

JeanI (Louisiana)
Posts: 112

Posted:

Would it change anyone's opinion if the HOA President is also on the Board of Directors of the specific parish volunteer fire department? Suppose the next President decides that the Association is not receiving adequate police protection, could he recommend raising the dues to support them? Where does it end? In our development, the membership does not vote on dues increases or assessments. JeanI

MarkM31 (Washington)
Posts: 556

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JeanI on 04/21/2015 10:58 AM
Would it change anyone's opinion if the HOA President is also on the Board of Directors of the specific parish volunteer fire department? I

It should

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JeanI on 04/21/2015 10:58 AM
Would it change anyone's opinion if the HOA President is also on the Board of Directors of the specific parish volunteer fire department?

Would it change my vote? No. I would have voted against it anyway. The reason I would vote against it is what would be the next cause? Let the individuals make their own decision.

My opinion that the issue should go to the membership as a vote wouldn't change either. However, the fact that the person proposing the issue is associated with the Fire Dept. should be disclosed as it is a conflict of interest.

Keep in mind that conflicts of interest are typically allowed providing the conflict is disclosed at the beginning of the issue and that the individual who has the conflict refrains from casting a vote on the outcome.

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

It does change my perspective.

The HOA president must recuse from the discussion. He may articulate his position and that's it.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Interesting topic!

Boards need to make these decisions unless LA state law or Jean's governing documents say member vote on (1) any dues increases, or (2) any increases above, for example, 5%. It's directors jobs, imo, to make the tough calls unless limited in some way

And maybe insurance would go down? Is there a way to find out?

While a conflict of interest doesn't necessarily mean the "interested director" cannot vote on the issue, in this case I think he should not. I believe that not only should he recuse himself from voting, after he makes his points about why homeowners should pay, he should be asked also to leave the room for the rest of the discussion. This'd free up directors to talk openly about their opinions.

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