Board review of monetary agenda items prior to meeting

Typically, yes. However, discussion and questions should be done at the meeting.

Many Associations do this.

However, some Assocaitions won't disseminate the material until the actual meeting for various reasons. So, even though it may be permissible, your Board could still choose to wait.

Keep in mind that if you need more time to review, it's ok to make a motion to table the decision until the next meeting in order to give everyone time to review the material.

With others, Frank, our board sees all "financials" about 5 days before the meetings. That way, we can read and digest the numbers or compare the bids.

Is there anything in FL statutes that say directors cannot see these data before a board meeting?

We only got the financial statements the day of the meeting. Since we had open meetings, we would discuss them in front of everybody. The board would only get copies of the Collections report but everyone could have a copy of the expenditures.

The collections we discussed but not in terms of names. We reference people by lot # only and what actions we taking. Since we had a 6 month we lien policy, we only had to worry about those homes. Making sure that members knew we held up that policy and we took action against non-payers.

The expenditure report was basically our whole meeting. It was all our expenditures the month before. So it's a 20/20 hindsight kind of thing. We were open about what we spent the member's money on. We also discussed what other upcoming expenditures we may have. That way by the next meeting it would reflect on the reports.

I don't have a problem with the board reviewing before members. The board member's job is to represent the entire HOA on managing the money on their behalf. So it would make sense for the board to want to be on the same page and clear prior to presenting the details to the membership. It is NOT hiding or doing things behind anyone's back. Believe me, since we only met openly 1 time a month, it would been great to been able to do that prior to meetings. That way we as a board were on the same page and able to respond to questions at the meeting.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question.

To clarify, I was just concerned with bids for various projects for HOA common areas upkeep and repair requiring monetary expenditures.
I could not find anything in our CC&R's or the Florida Statues 720 that either allowed or prohibited the dissemination of the material to the board prior to our monthly meeting. I want to make sure I am making an informed decision on those agenda item requiring payment.

I can contact the President of the Board and discuss it with her.

It seems that it would be in the best interest of the community if the Board members received bids to review prior to meetings. That way, the Board will be prepared to discuss and it also gives the Board members time to do research on each vendor who is bidding. My observation has been that a lot gets tabled because inevitably a Board member wants a question asked prior to making a decision.

Frank, the sealed bidding process is a little different than dealing with the regular business of operating the association. The sealed bidding process requires the bids to be opened a the meeting and not before. For regular business, I normally give my board everything I can so at the meeting they can ask their questions. I do not want them to feel pressured to make quick decisions if they have questions. If you have ever seen your local Board of County Commissioners meeting you will see that they obviously have had a chance to review material beforehand. They have a 'consent agenda' where they would simply approve a list of items or, at the request of a board member, they could pull items out for discussion. Board members should not get together to discuss business outside of a duly noticed meeting, but reviewing material beforehand does not violate that rule, in my opinion. As board members, we are busy with our own lives and this step is a good time saver.