Holiday, and other parties-

I assume you're on the board and agree maintenance funds should only be used for that. There's nothing wrong with the Board chartering some sort of social committee where residents can volunteer for it - the committee would then propose activities and perhaps recruit volunteers to pull it off. If your community has a clubhouse, the Board could make it available for that purpose, with residents volunteering to bring or buy refreshments, decorations, provide a DJ or whatever else they want to do.

If residents want the Association to underwrite an activity, they should understand that their assessments have to pay for that, so they need to decide how much more they're willing to pay and then the board can establish a line item in the budget. It should also establish ground rules as to how this money is to be spent.

Start with taking a poll to see what the residents would like to do - if they're really interested, they should step forward. If not, at least you tried and it will be up to the people who would like these activities to lobby their neighbors.

Fred,

If there are concerns about using HOA funds for parties, you may want to suggest to those people that they are welcome to organize a party (although I've found those who tend to ask for them seldom want to take the effort to plan them).

My Association does not have a social committee.

However, I did organize a block bar-b-que/potluck. I simply picked a date, had people volunteer to bring grills and tables then sent out the following flyer:

Neighborhood Party - Bring your own meat, drinks and a dish to share. Bring a lawn chair and meet in the center island. Grills, serving tables, plates and silverware will be provided (total cost, $50 maybe).

A great time was had by all who could attend. We got to meet our neighbors and had a sense of community.

aaaaaah......

the nanny entertaining the children

geeeeee......

It matters not what residents want.

It 'probably' matters what association MEMBERS want.

What do the Covenants state re: purpose and/use of assessments ?

Voila! No 'thinking' needed, merely reading the actual CONTRACT

My HOA's Articles of Incorporation list as the 1st purpose of the associaiton...

"To establish, maintain and operate an Association not for profit;
to uphold, maintain and promote the property interests and rights of member
owners and residents of the following described real property located in COUNTY_XYZ...
And to do any other thing necessary or desirable in the interests of the
safety, health, protection, comfort and convenience of such member property
owners and residents."

Some HOAs, including my own apparently, do have to consider residents and not just the owners/members. Having said that, we provide $500 in the budget every year to our Social Committee. Everything they need over and above that is raised by the committee at the various events they have throughout the year. There are usually 2 or 3 a month depending on who's on the Social Committee and how ambitous they feel during their planning meetings.

Heh, the last one Not washing the dishes yourself is a great convenience!

But yes, only the members can vote and they're the ones ultimately responsible for the finances.

Say, Fred, what do your own docs, probably your CC&Rs say about the duties of the association. I know that some are like Geno's and contain something about supplying recreations activities or something a long the lines of Genor's. I DO interpret Geno's "comfort" as including social events as it's vague as t whether it means emotional comfort or physical comfort.

And with Sheila and as mentioned above, your Board surely can support such a committee by chartering it, publicizing its events, waiving rental fees if you have a clubhouse that could be used and so forth, In other words, recognize and acknowledge and support their efforts.