Owners in MA having hard time reasoning with board

My husband and I live in a 24-unit condo in MA.

Based on an out-of-date Briggs Study, it has been anticipated that the roofs will need to be replaced and major work will be needed for septic systems.

The property manager states that the roofs may be replaced over a 10-year period, beginning in 2020, although the present reserve document has grouped all roof expenses to happen in 3 years.

The 5-member Board has informed the owners that there will be a $300,000 shortfall primarily due to these anticipated expenses. At last May's annual meeting, it sought input from the owners as the Board wanted to raise the money by imposing a $210 per unit increase to the monthly fee, for 5 years, beginning in 2016. (That would have been a 19% increase in the monthly fee.

The Board backed off and sought only a $100 (or 9+%) increase (this will only yield $144,000 or less than the needed $300,000 so it can be expected that the Board will be back to the owners seeking more money, but we don't know when.)

The condo currently puts 14.28% of the operating budget into the reserve fund each year. With the $100 increase, the contribution to the reserve will go to 24.32% of the operating budget.

If the remaining amount is sought to put the entire $300,000 in the Reserve, that will be 35.36% of the operating budget.

There was no clear answer from the owners at the annual meeting, but the board believes that there was, and is going forward with the $100 increase.

The board has refused to look at a revolving line of credit as a funding option, even though that is what the prior board wanted to do believing that the expenses were too "speculative".

We have urged for more than a year that such financing be at least investigated. It has also refused to consult with the condo's accountant, attorney, a realtor or a banker, even though urged to do so for more than a year.

Also, the Board (at this month's meeting) now says that the $300,000 is to generally "beef up" the reserve, and the money may be used to repair/replace amenities like the swimming pool and the tennis court, although there is no evidence that such work may be needed. It is a possibility - not in any reserve study.

So, the money may not go to the roofs and the septic systems, but be spent on non-priority matters with the roofs and septic systems still to be dealt with.

To top it all off, when owners attend board meetings to ask questions or propose new thinking, they are treated very rudely, yelled at or spoken to with sarcasm.

What options do the unit owners have? When wOe arrived as new owners in 2008, we were immediately assessed over $300,000 for new roads. We don't want to see all of the capital improvements fall onto the shoulders of existing owners, but spread between existing and down-the-road owners who will benefit from 30-year capital improvements like roofs.

All advice is welcome!