Guide to Annual Meetings for Idaho Associations

Idaho law requires homeowners associations that are incorporated as non-profit corporations to hold at least one membership meeting per year.  I.C. §30-3-46(1).  This meeting is commonly referred to as the annual meeting.  Oftentimes, an association holds multiple meetings throughout the year; however, the annual meeting is specifically required by statute for incorporated associations, and it provides an association’s members the opportunity to receive a recap of the association’s activities from the preceding year, as well as a snap shot of the association’s activities for the upcoming year.  The annual meeting also provides an association’s members an opportunity to chime in and make recommendations for the operation of the association, as well as to participate in the vote to elect an association’s newest members of its board of directors.

A homeowners association’s annual meeting provides an association the opportunity to address two additional requirements of Idaho law that apply to homeowners associations that are incorporated.  First, an incorporated association’s board of directors is required to report on the financial activities and condition of the corporation. I.C. §30-3-46.This information should provide the association’s members with information on the association’s recurring expenses (i.e. landscaping, utilities, security, etc.), as well as any significant or unusual expenditures (i.e. resurfacing a pool, reroofing buildings, installing playground equipment, etc.) that the association intends to make during the year.  In addition, if the association’s governing documents do not expressly authorize the Board to adopt an annual budget, the annual meeting provides the association’s members the opportunity to ratify the budget. Id.

Second, at the annual meeting, the members of the association must consider and vote upon any and all issues affecting the association, so long as the vote is properly noticed and required by the association’s governing documents. These issues may include voting to increase assessments, levy special or limited assessments, or amend the governing documents.

As mentioned above, a homeowners association may hold meetings in addition to its annual meeting throughout the year; however, if there is only one association meeting that you intend to sit in on during the year, plan on attending the annual meeting as it is oftentimes the most informative and most important meeting of the year.