Guest Charles Abel Posted July 9, 2019 at 08:02 PM Report Share Posted July 9, 2019 at 08:02 PM During the course of a regular meeting, is it permissible for the presiding officer, usually the president, after the minutes are read to ask if there is any additions or corrections to the minutes, and hearing none, then call for the minutes to be approved as read. The same would go for the treasurers report. Or, does it have to be put in the form of a motion, seconded, and then voted on by all present to approve the minutes and treasurers report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted July 9, 2019 at 08:09 PM Report Share Posted July 9, 2019 at 08:09 PM 2 minutes ago, Guest Charles Abel said: During the course of a regular meeting, is it permissible for the presiding officer, usually the president, after the minutes are read to ask if there is any additions or corrections to the minutes, and hearing none, then call for the minutes to be approved as read. The same would go for the treasurers report. Or, does it have to be put in the form of a motion, seconded, and then voted on by all present to approve the minutes and treasurers report. When it comes to the minutes, you are partially correct, maybe even mostly correct. The chair calls for corrections, if any, and if there are none or if the corrections are adopted, when there are no more corrections he simply declares that the minutes are approved. There is no vote taken on approving the minutes. The only time a vote is taken is when there is a disagreement as to whether a certain correction should be made. The treasurer's report, on the other hand, is never approved. A motion to approve it is out of order. The treasurer's report is merely placed on file. After the treasurer gives his report, whether it is written or verbal, the chair thanks him for his report and then moves on to the next item of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zev Posted July 9, 2019 at 08:58 PM Report Share Posted July 9, 2019 at 08:58 PM 43 minutes ago, Richard Brown said: The treasurer's report is merely placed on file. This is the normal case. However, some treasurer reports, on occasion the yearly treasurer's report is referred to a special committee, either appointed or elected, of auditors and their report is either adopted or not. I didn't want Guest Abel to think that all treasurer's reports are filed away without scrutiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted July 9, 2019 at 09:17 PM Report Share Posted July 9, 2019 at 09:17 PM 8 minutes ago, Guest Zev said: This is the normal case. However, some treasurer reports, on occasion the yearly treasurer's report is referred to a special committee, either appointed or elected, of auditors and their report is either adopted or not. I didn't want Guest Abel to think that all treasurer's reports are filed away without scrutiny. The report of the auditors is approved, but a treasurer's report should never be approved. If it is desired to refer a treasurer's report to a committee, that may be done, of course, per page 480, but that is not "approving" the treasurer's report. However, normally the auditors are directed to review all of the treasurer's records. I suppose a separate motion could be adopted directing the treasurer to make his records available to the auditors, but such a motion should not be necessary as that should happen automatically in due course. The important take away here should be that, contrary to what is a widespread custom, routine treasurers reports should not be "approved" at every meeting, but are merely placed on file and the treasurer is thanked for his report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted July 9, 2019 at 09:24 PM Report Share Posted July 9, 2019 at 09:24 PM 1 hour ago, Richard Brown said: you are partially correct, maybe even mostly correct. I'm having trouble seeing what's incorrect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zev Posted July 9, 2019 at 10:05 PM Report Share Posted July 9, 2019 at 10:05 PM 31 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said: I'm having trouble seeing what's incorrect. The OP said that the chairman asked for corrections to the minutes. That part was OK. Then the chairman put the question on approving the minutes. (That part Mr. Brown clarifies.) The chairman then does the same thing for the treasurer's report; reads it then puts the question on its adoption. Both Mr. Brown and I take issue with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted July 9, 2019 at 10:06 PM Report Share Posted July 9, 2019 at 10:06 PM Ah, I missed that the OP described the chair putting forth the question for a vote. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted July 11, 2019 at 05:42 PM Report Share Posted July 11, 2019 at 05:42 PM On 7/9/2019 at 6:06 PM, Joshua Katz said: Ah, I missed that the OP described the chair putting forth the question for a vote. Thanks. Even without a vote, it would be incorrect to approve the treasurer's report by the same method as minutes are approved. The chair may not state "If there are no objections, the treasurer's report is approved as read/printed." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted July 11, 2019 at 11:47 PM Report Share Posted July 11, 2019 at 11:47 PM 6 hours ago, Gary Novosielski said: Even without a vote, it would be incorrect to approve the treasurer's report by the same method as minutes are approved. The chair may not state "If there are no objections, the treasurer's report is approved as read/printed." Of course, and I cut Mr. Brown's quote shorter than I should have, to indicate that I was referring only to the portion on the minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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