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Unauthorized spending


Guest Ashley

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Our PTO’s president has purchased a laptop without membership approval or vote. It was never on the proposed annual  budget or agenda at the meeting. She claims since there are no by-law restrictions to stop her from doing this, she can spend general funds as she pleases. Does any part of Robert’s Rules limit this behavior?

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10 hours ago, Guest Ashley said:

Our PTO’s president has purchased a laptop without membership approval or vote. It was never on the proposed annual  budget or agenda at the meeting. She claims since there are no by-law restrictions to stop her from doing this, she can spend general funds as she pleases. Does any part of Robert’s Rules limit this behavior?

The President has it backwards. The President has no authority to spend funds without membership approval (or to do anything not related to her duties as presiding officer) unless authorized by the bylaws.

“All of the duties of the presiding officer described above relate to the function of presiding over the assembly at its meetings. In addition, in many organized societies, the president has duties as an administrative or executive officer; but these are outside the scope of parliamentary law, and the president has such authority only insofar as the bylaws provide it.” (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 456)

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18 hours ago, Guest Ashley said:

Our PTO’s president has purchased a laptop without membership approval or vote. It was never on the proposed annual  budget or agenda at the meeting. She claims since there are no by-law restrictions to stop her from doing this, she can spend general funds as she pleases. Does any part of Robert’s Rules limit this behavior?

Not only does RONR limit such behavior, it prohibits it outright.  Claiming there are no by-law restrictions is nonsense.  I'm sure there are no by-law restrictions against her taking a vacation to Mexico with PTO funds, either.  The President has only such authority as the bylaws provide.  And the fact that the organization has an annual budget means that the membership (which a superior body to the board and officers) has restricted expenditures to those areas that it approved in the budget.  So the President has violated both the bylaws and the explicit instructions of the membership.

See RONR Chapter XX on how to remove rogue officers.

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15 hours ago, Gary Novosielski said:

And the fact that the organization has an annual budget means that the membership (which a superior body to the board and officers) has restricted expenditures to those areas that it approved in the budget.  So the President has violated both the bylaws and the explicit instructions of the membership.

My experience has been that what a “budget” means varies from society to society. It may well mean, but does not necessarily mean, that the membership has restricted expenditures to those areas. Determining what the effect of the adoption of a budget is in a particular society would require a review of the exact wording of the motion, as well as the organization’s rules and customs.

In any event, however, I concur that based on the facts presented, the President, acting alone, lacked the authority to make this purchase.

Edited by Josh Martin
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Just now, Gary Novosielski said:

See RONR Chapter XX on how to remove rogue officers.

Would it be prudent to first adopt a motion requiring the president to reimburse the PTO for the expense she made? It seems to me that on occasion a presiding officer might come to their senses, continue in office and make a valuable contribution to the organization. However, if she refuses and throws the gauntlet down, then I would start my chapter 20 proceedings.

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52 minutes ago, Guest Zev said:

Would it be prudent to first adopt a motion requiring the president to reimburse the PTO for the expense she made? It seems to me that on occasion a presiding officer might come to their senses, continue in office and make a valuable contribution to the organization. However, if she refuses and throws the gauntlet down, then I would start my chapter 20 proceedings.

I think the society has a wide range of options available to it, both in regards to the laptop and in regards to the President.

Mr. Novosielski’s suggestion is certainly an option. As you suggest, the society might also decide to first request that the President reimburse the PTO for the laptop, and then pursue disciplinary proceedings only if the President refuses to comply.

It is also very possible that the society ultimately determines that it likes the laptop after all and ratifies the purchase, and merely wishes to clarify this matter for the future, before the President’s misguided notion that “since there are no by-law restrictions to stop her from doing this, she can spend general funds as she pleases” leads to even more unauthorized purchases.

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On 10/2/2019 at 4:59 PM, Guest Zev said:

Would it be prudent to first adopt a motion requiring the president to reimburse the PTO for the expense she made? It seems to me that on occasion a presiding officer might come to their senses, continue in office and make a valuable contribution to the organization. However, if she refuses and throws the gauntlet down, then I would start my chapter 20 proceedings.

Yes, that would be in order.  For some reason I had assumed that she had made the purchase and was seeking reimbursement for it, which would be easier to deal with by simply denying the reimbursement.

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