Establishment of HOA Committees

At some time in the future, our HOA will become the responibility of the residents. We are already looking at the inner workings of some of the required and optional committees. I'm looking for information on which committees have done well and those that have not been so successful. In Florida, only one committee is mandatred and that is the Fining Committee so we will have no choice there. Thanks

Based on my experience, I'd say you should first be clear about what the purpose of the committee is. Does it fill a need that has been identified? Or do you just think "it would be a good idea" because other communities have done it?

Committees don't run themselves. They also can attract folks who try to take over and who think that they have the same authority as the board (they don't). Poorly defined and poorly managed committees generally fail. At best they create more work instead of accomplishing something useful. At worst they can cause real trouble.

We had a social committee that was run by a bigot (think Fair Housing violations) who refused to take direction from the board, and with other members who thought they should by in charge. Fortunately the thing blew itself up pretty quickly - otherwise the board would have disbanded it.

On the other hand, I've heard many reports of successful finance committees. They were successful because they had a well-defined purpose and charter, had members with specific skills who could work effectively with others, and had one board member on the committee to oversee what was going on.

Typically the board is ultimately responsible for what happens, committee members serve at the pleasure of the board, and they may be removed with or without cause. See what your bylaws say about these things.

I went to a webinar this week where the speakers (attorneys) emphasized that boards should be very careful about forming and taking recommendations from committees. Because of the specific rules under FS 718 and FS 720 in regards to proper notice for meetings and meeting records, any committee is most likely going to have to be official and follow those rules also. So your finance committee or landscape committee are going to be subject to posting proper notice of meetings, having published agendas that allow owner comments, and keeping minutes, which will be part of the public record.

Some communities like lots of committees. That's never been a success in our community - usually the members just disagree and fight amongst themselves, then everyone quits. The only standing committee we have is the architectural committee (we call it a board) which is pretty independent and does a good job.

A lot of it depends on the size and nature of your community. When the homeowners were give pn one board position I took it, and immediately created facilities Committee (because we have clubhouses, pools, gyms, etc), a Social Committee because we are designed to be an active community, a Landscape Committee because the HOA provides lawn care, and a Welcome Committee so every new resident would receive a personal greeting with information about the community - because we were adding over 100 new homes a year.

We have since also created a Finance Committee because we have a seven figure budget with multiple funds, so we wanted people who could focus on financial advise for the board. And we created a Communications Committee to maintain a website, produce a monthly newsletter, and handle the technology issues to allow owners to attend meetings virtually.

But your individual needs could be completely different.

Our Association is 84 duplex type townhomes. We do not have amenities within our association, but right nearby we have the Mississippi River, large park, and walking bike path.