Unit owners would need to approve compensation

Q. The members of the board of our condominium spend a tremendous amount of their time on association matters. Can the board set a salary to be paid to board members?

A. The Illinois Condominium Property Act states that the bylaws shall provide for the compensation, if any, of the members of the board. The declaration for your association, as is common, provides that board members serve without compensation, unless compensation is approved by two-thirds of the owners in the association. The issue of compensating board members needs to be submitted to the ownership for approval at a meeting of the owners. That said, board members can be reimbursed for their actual out-of-pocket expenses, if any, incurred as a board member, without owner approval. Examples of some of these expenses might be office supplies, printer ink or paper for a computer used to print association-related documents.

Q. My common interest community association, incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation, has gotten in the habit of electing board members to specific officer positions rather than to the board at large. Our declaration does not specify how officers are chosen, but our bylaws do. The bylaws provide that owners elect board members, and that the board determines officer positions among themselves. What's correct here?

A. Section 108.50(a) of the Illinois Not-for-Profit Corporation Act provides that officers may be elected or appointed by the board of directors or chosen in such other manner as may be prescribed by the bylaws. In general, bylaws for a homeowners association typically provide that owners elect the board members, and the board members elect the officers. Election of officers by members of the board is required in a condominium.

So, if the bylaws for your common interest community association provide that officers are elected by the board, that must be followed. Owners in your association would elect the members of the board, and the board would elect its president and other officers.

Q. We are a small condominium association. Our annual election is coming up, and it is likely the election of candidates to the board may end up in a tie vote among two candidates. The bylaws for our association are silent on this issue. What happens in the event of a tie vote for members of the board?

A. This can be handled in a number of ways. Most commonly, one of two candidates who tied for the seat could concede the position to the other. Or, the two who tied could agree to resolve the tie by a "coin flip" or other similar game of chance - this is a method used in some local municipal elections. Failing this, a meeting of the owners could be held to conduct a "runoff" election between the two candidates who tied for the seat. Although this does not come up all that often, this is one of those situations that could be addressed in the association's election procedure rules.

Q. I live in a condominium association. The board will be meeting very soon to adopt the budget for next year. I have not received any notice of this board meeting. I thought I was supposed to receive some sort of notice and a copy of the proposed budget. What is the procedure to adopt a condominium budget?

A. The board must adopt the annual budget and assessment at a board meeting. In order to adopt the annual budget, the Condominium Property Act, Section 18(a), requires that each unit owner receive, at least 25 days prior to the adoption thereof by the board of managers, a copy of the proposed annual budget. Further, each unit owner must receive written notice of the board meeting where the board will adopt the annual budget; such notice must be mailed or delivered giving unit owners no less than 10 and no more than 30 days' notice of the time, place and purpose of such meeting.

Both the budget and notice of board meeting can be mailed together.

• David M. Bendoff is an attorney with Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit in the Chicago suburbs. Send questions for the column to him at CondoTalk@ksnlaw.com. The firm provides legal service to condominium, townhouse, homeowner associations and housing cooperatives. This column is not a substitute for consultation with legal counsel.