Board Members should not Act Unilaterally
Not long ago I heard from a treasurer of a condo association board who was frustrated because her association had never passed an operating budget before the beginning of the year. They finally adopted a proposed budget which did not include a retroactive collection of assessments for the current year. With the current year's budget, the president made a unilateral decision to advise owners that there would be a retroactive assessment. In complete frustration, the treasurer asked if one person could change the resolution of the board after it is passed.
The president alone, or any other board member for that matter, cannot make policy decisions for the association. Those decisions must be made by the board and the president only has authority to carry out the resolutions of the board. However, if the board members choose to allow the president to take these actions without their consent, they may be held accountable for the acts or omissions of the president. Board members must comply with the basic requirements of the condominium and corporate bylaws and if they require that a budget be established before the annual assessment is levied, then that must be done. In the case of our frustrated treasurer, the president was correct in recognizing that the bylaws require the board to adopt an annual budget so the late budget should cover the entire year.