HOA Reserves

Our Lakeview Villas POA has established reserves. Apparently, Statute 720.303(6) would apply if reserves are established by a membership vote, the developer or the governing documents. Reserves are required under our Declarations and have been in place for over 10 years.
The Board will budget reserves annually, but will also increase, decrease or elect not to fund reserves at all without Membership approval.
Are we correct that our Association must comply with 720.303(6)

Dan,

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According to Google AI:

In Florida, HOAs are generally not exempt from the requirements of FS 720.303(6), which governs reserve accounts. However, reserves are only mandatory if established by the developer or voted in by a majority of members. HOAs without developer-established or member-approved reserves are not forced to fund them under this statute.

Mandatory Reserves (Statutory Reserves): These are required if set up by the developer or if a majority of the members vote to adopt them.

Non-Statutory Reserves: If not adopted by a vote or developer, the HOA is not required to maintain reserves under FS 720.303(6).

Voluntary Adoption: The membership can vote to create, increase, or fully fund reserves at any time, but it is not automatically mandatory for all HOAs.

The voluntary adoption part might be the sticking point – read your documents to see what they specifically state about funding reserves. Considering what’s happened in Florida with reserve funding or lack thereof (have y’all forgotten Surfside already???), it’s one thing to debate how much to fund reserves, but I hope there’s no talk of skipping funding altogether.

You may want to take a look at your reserve study and the budget to see if funding’s keeping up with inflation (just like the price of eggs and gas, new roofs, roads and whatever else your association is responsible for can and does increase over time, then take your questions to the board (in front of your neighbors) and see what they say. I do hope you're working with a current reserve study - if it's been over 5 years since you've had one, it's time for the board to commission one - they should be using it to help set the budget.