POA issues in Florida

I have been on a board for a POA for about a year. We were not informed prior to closing about this POA but; that's a whole different story there. The current board is concerned mainly with collecting fees and maintaining the roads. There are restrictions, unfortunately, besides just not having any commercial or industrial activities in this rural residential neighborhood. There are no community properties to manage so no money drains there.

A newer member of the board has gone on a rampage telling us how we are violating the law left and right. Most of the things I see pointed out seem to have the clause 'unless otherwise state in your CCR'. She claims that our board member collecting about 200 a month for bookkeeping/errand running is in violation of the law. But as far as I can see in the Florida statute if it says in the communities paperwork they can receive a wage (and no one is getting rich off 200$) for work done.

Is my interpretation incorrect? One board member is saying that the statute always comes first and usurps anything in the CCR. But that is not how I interpret things. It appears to my mind that the State Statutes are there to clarify when a POA/HOA does say for certain, in most cases. Not to replace and make void the documents in place.

Thank you GenoS

There is a section in our bylaws that addresses 'pay' for being an officer. It is prohibited, save for reimbursement for costs and a sum for meeting attendance. However the paragraph ends with this statement: Nothing herein contained shall preclude any director from serving the association in any other capacity and receiving compensation for such services. (to me this would cover a fee to mow the easements and do book keeping and court runs mailings and such)

in FL 720.3033 There is a section that you may not receive a salary or compensation for duties as a board member etc. But paragraph 10 ends with "This subsection does not preclude:"

And then in subsection 'a' it lists that one may be compensated for serving in capacities other than specific board and officer duties including routine maintenance. (again this would include, to me, maintaining the easements and being compensated for charging much under market rate for bookkeeping and office/court duties)

here is a portion of FL720.303:

(12) COMPENSATION PROHIBITED.—A director, officer, or committee member of the association may not directly receive any salary or compensation from the association for the performance of duties as a director, officer, or committee member and may not in any other way benefit financially from service to the association. This subsection does not preclude:
(a) Participation by such person in a financial benefit accruing to all or a significant number of members as a result of actions lawfully taken by the board or a committee of which he or she is a member, including, but not limited to, routine maintenance, repair, or replacement of community assets.

Jessica,

Your interpretation is correct.
However, doing those things can create a perception from others that there are issues.

To minimize these perceptions, make sure you do things properly:

1) Never waive assessments for work done. The individuals should continue to pay assessments like everyone else and the Association should cut a check for services performed.

2) If they are independent contractors, make sure bids are done for major work (bookkeeping, landscape maintenance, etc.) and that those individuals have zero access to other bids until the deadline has passed. They should also recuse themselves from voting on awarding the contract.

3) If they are employees, make sure duties are spelled out in writing along with an employment agreement.

4) File the appropriate forms with the IRS. 1099-misc for independent contractors and W-2s for employees. Not sure if they are contractors or employees, see Independent Contractor (Self-Employed) or Employee? from the IRS website.

5) File the appropriate forms with your State

To eliminate these perceptions, hire individuals who do not serve on the Board to perform various duties (we usually hire from within the community for an independent contractor to perform bookkeeping duties).

Keep in mind that this requirement applies to all individuals offering a bid (even if they are serving as a Director and/or Officer at the time) otherwise they will likely be considered employees of the Association and that opens a whole new set of tax and insurance issues for the Association.

Thank you for that reminder. I am quite sure we don't want to become employers. This POA takes in less than 50k a year and it pretty much all goes to the roads one way or another, rock and dirt, gradings, mowing and the like. The POA has been managed by members for only a few years but the company who did the managing before took over half of the fees just to manage the account. However, that's where we will be again, with a professional management group, taking the lion's share of the money and our roads suffering, if people make it a further misery and threaten people with legal action who are doing the best they can.