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Treasurer's Role in Budget and Finance Committee

Started by JamesA1 • 11 replies • 2212 views

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JamesA1 (Maryland)
Posts: 21
Posted:
The treasurer in our HOA is elected annually by the Board of Directors. The treasurer must be a member of the HOA (homeowner) but is not required to be a member of the Board. We have a Budget and Finance Advisory Committee whose monthly meetings are attended by the treasurer but he/she is not a member of the committee and has no vote at the committee meetings. Can anyone comment on the pros and cons of allowing the treasurer to vote at budget and finance committee meetings?
JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265
Posted:
James

Does the Treasurer get a vote on the BOD?

How does the Finance Committee get elected/appointed?

With no vote on the Budget Committee, it seems you have done a good job of emasculating the Treasurer's position. I say the Treasurer should run the Finance Committee and get a vote on it.

JamesA1 (Maryland)
Posts: 21
Posted:
The treasurer only would get a vote on the board if a member of the board. Historically, the treasurer has not been a member of the board

B&F committee members are volunteer homeowners. Folks volunteer and committee membership is approved by the board.

I think there may be merit in having the treasurer chair the B&F Committee. One argument against it is the seemingly inordinate amount of work and time required.

I also should have mentioned that we have a management company doing all the nitty gritty work. Our treasurer position is one of oversight.

Thanks for reply
JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By JamesA1 on 11/01/2016 3:59 AM
The treasurer only would get a vote on the board if a member of the board. Historically, the treasurer has not been a member of the board

B&F committee members are volunteer homeowners. Folks volunteer and committee membership is approved by the board.

I think there may be merit in having the treasurer chair the B&F Committee. One argument against it is the seemingly inordinate amount of work and time required.

I also should have mentioned that we have a management company doing all the nitty gritty work. Our treasurer position is one of oversight.

Thanks for reply

I am the Treasurer of our condo association and we have a Finance Committee, made up of volunteer homeowners. It works well for us to have a non-Board member to chair the Finance Committee. If your non-Board Member Treasurer is unwilling to serve as Chair, it seems appropriate for the other members of the committee to solicit a homeowner who is willing to do so.

What do you think?

oljim, in texas
Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas
MarkM31 (Washington)
Posts: 494
Posted:
Very odd indeed that the treasurer is not a member of the BOD. Normally, the BOD is composed of HOA members, and the officers are members of the BOD. Normal officers positions are Res, VP, Areas and Sec.

This structure is common to other organizations also.
SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964
Posted:
I don’t see any reason why the treasurer shouldn’t be on the committee itself (in which case, he/she would be able to vote.) The treasurer does oversight of the budget, so he/she should be very useful in explaining details of the budget, such as why something didn’t done due to a lack of funds or what’s being done to reduce delinquencies.

You don’t say how much work the treasurer does, but as a former treasurer, I can say even oversight of the budget is fairly involved, even if you do have a property manager doing the donkey work (which our management company also did). For workload, I'd suggest the rest of the committee handle it. If you’re worried about the treasurer having too much influence, you have more than one person on the committee so the majority will rule anyway. Even then, I would think the board makes the final decision.
If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius
MarkM31 (Washington)
Posts: 494
Posted:
I realize that such structures are allowed, but I have never been involved with such.. Probably done to allow professional treasurers who are employed by an entity either as an employee or contractor to appear
SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814
Posted:
It's pretty boiler-plate that the Treasurer does not vote in the decisions in which he/she will write checks, as determined by the Board.

The treasurer and the president usually help produce the annual Revenue/Expenses, along with a MC input for the Board's approval; the Finance Committee watches over investments, projections, etc. The Treasurer reports to both committees as a non voting member.

That's how I understand things.

MarkM31 (Washington)
Posts: 494
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By SueW6 on 11/01/2016 9:14 AM
It's pretty boiler-plate that the Treasurer does not vote in the decisions in which he/she will write checks, as determined by the Board.


That doesn't really make sense. If the Treasurer is a member of the Board, then they should be voting on everything unless there is a conflict of interest. If the Treasurer is not a member of the Board, then likely they can not vote on anything.

Why is writing the checks such a metric? Doesn't the Treasurer write all the checks? And that doesn't mean that they even sign the checks, the President may.

Any check written requires (required) a vote at some time, so by your logic a Treasurer with full voting powers is never allowed to vote on a contract or bill?
KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550
Posted:
Treasurers in our HOA need not be members of the Board; only the prez & VP must be directors. We did have a non-director as treasurer for a while, but eventually she accepted appointment to the board to fill a vacancy as she wanted to vote on board matters.

Our treasurers do chair the Finance Committee and do have a vote on the Committee of 7. Like James' HOA, our PM does all of the nitty-gritty of our financials and the treasurer and FC provide oversight. Our treasurers typically have had a lot more knowledge of our complicated multiple budgets than committee members so, IMO, without the treasurer's guidance, the FC would speculate a lot and come up with nonsensical recommendations to the board.

Our officers all may sign checks and the treasurer is included--I can't imagine why they wouldn't be.

SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814
Posted:
If the treasurer is a board member, then that person votes on all issues.

I believe the OP's question was about the treasurer's role in the Budget Committee and Finance Committee decisions.

JamesA1 (Maryland)
Posts: 21
Posted:
Much thanks to all of you. The responses will be very helpful during our future discussion

Jim

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