I live in a large unit condo complex in Illinois. The homeowners receive a monthly summary of income and expenditures as required by the
Illinois Condo Act. There were a couple of issues that were brought up at our last homeowners meeting - bid procedures and requirements, and miscellaneous expenses. For the last 4-5 years our board of directors decided to manage our pool facility. They noted that by doing so, the
condo association is saving a lot of money. However, they do not disclose how much money saved. To complicate matters, we have some board members and spouses of board members on the payroll. Our
property management, indicated that board members are allowed to receive compensation for any other job responsibilities, other than the position as board director holds. I find this to be a gray area in the Illinois Condo Act. The Act doesn't go into much detail when it comes to compensation to board members. I would have hoped that the property management would have indicated to the board president and homeowners, that although this may be allowed, that they strongly recommend against it. My question is this - Doesn't the board have the fudiciary duty to go out for bids every year for large expenditure items such as pool management ($30-60,000 per year. This way, the homeowners would be notified that several bids were submitted (giving the bid amount to homeowners at the meeting)and the decision was made based on this information. At this point, homeowners have no idea what the savings are by having the pool managed by the board. Unfortunately, our by-laws do not specify anything about why, when, bids should be enforced. Is there any way to force the hand our board president to follow the bid process as they do for other large expenditures such as landscaping, snow removal, janitorial, etc.? Although, the board is doing a good job managing the pool, it is very clear that they have no intentions of getting bids for pool management. Is this even allowed? Second issue regarding Miscellaneous expenditures. For the last 3 years, miscellaneous category has been one of the top expenditures we incur. In 2009 it totaled $25,000, and in 2010 it totaled $38,000. It has been brought up at our homeowners meetings that this is absurd. Miscellaneous should be out-of-pocket or petty cash expenses. The board could very easily create new categories for repetitive expenses that come up every year. Again, our board seems to be content in doing things in their best interest. There is no disclosure at our meetings to explain the miscellaneous expenditures. The only time there is a discussion, is when a homeowner brings it up at the meeting. Are there any Disclosure Acts or Policies enacted for Miscellaneous Expenditures that other large condominium complexes have currently in their bylaws. How can our homeowners get the board to reveal miscellaneous spending habits, and make the attempt to reduce miscellaneous category by creating new categories? Would amending the bylaws help any? Or is this a dead issue.
