Charging Members a Fee to Attend Business Meeting

[Guest Maria]

Hello everyone,

Our association has started charging members to attend the business meeting portion of its monthly membership meeting. Our members feel like it's their duty and obligation to stay informed with association business, but now the board has decided to charge the members to attend. Immediately following the business meeting is a speaker and for the past 20 years (that's how long I've been involved), the seminar portion has always been a separate charge. You could attend the business meeting and then leave if the topic did not pertain to you. Now they are telling their members that it's the same price. 

Members pay dues and expect to keep informed about association business. But they don't get the minutes out timely and they have stopped sending a monthly newsletter. Now the members don't know what's really going on. I was under the impression that the association can charge for a service, i.e., the seminar following the business meeting. 

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[George Mervosh]

On 10/21/2022 at 12:45 PM, Guest Maria said:

Our association has started charging members to attend the business meeting portion of its monthly membership meeting. Our members feel like it's their duty and obligation to stay informed with association business, but now the board has decided to charge the members to attend. Immediately following the business meeting is a speaker and for the past 20 years (that's how long I've been involved), the seminar portion has always been a separate charge. You could attend the business meeting and then leave if the topic did not pertain to you. Now they are telling their members that it's the same price. 

You did not ask a question but this is not permitted unless the authority to charge is specified in the bylaws.

" Members cannot be assessed any additional payment aside from their dues unless it is provided for in the bylaws."  RONR (12th ed.) 56:19

On 10/21/2022 at 12:45 PM, Guest Maria said:

Members pay dues and expect to keep informed about association business. But they don't get the minutes out timely and they have stopped sending a monthly newsletter. Now the members don't know what's really going on. I was under the impression that the association can charge for a service, i.e., the seminar following the business meeting. 

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Nothing in RONR prohibits this.

Edited October 21, 2022 at 05:09 PM by George Mervosh

[Guest Maria]

Apologies ... my question is: do dues-paying members have to pay a fee to attend the business portion of their non-profit association meeting? This one hour of time is dedicated to approving minutes, reviewing treasurer reports, introducing the board and networking. There is nothing in the bylaws that state a fee is due for the business portion, but there is nothing in the bylaws that state they can charge for the seminar either. Thanks.

[George Mervosh]

On 10/21/2022 at 2:13 PM, Guest Maria said:

Apologies ... my question is: do dues-paying members have to pay a fee to attend the business portion of their non-profit association meeting?  

Per the answer above - This is not permitted unless the authority to charge is specified in the bylaws.

" Members cannot be assessed any additional payment aside from their dues unless it is provided for in the bylaws."  RONR (12th ed.) 56:19

On 10/21/2022 at 2:13 PM, Guest Maria said:

There is nothing in the bylaws that state a fee is due for the business portion

Then there cannot be a fee assessed.

On 10/21/2022 at 2:13 PM, Guest Maria said:

 but there is nothing in the bylaws that state they can charge for the seminar either.  

RONR does not require the bylaws speak to this.  If you want to charge for a seminar, go right ahead.

[Gary Novosielski]

<deleted>

Edited October 22, 2022 at 01:12 AM by Gary Novosielski

[Alicia Percell, PRP]

I don't think that the RONR provision on assessments applies to the question being asked here. 

Assessments are things charged to all who are members of an organization, and they owe it simply because they're members.  For instance, if an HOA maintained a pool which needed repairs costing $10,000 and there were 100 members of the HOA, requiring each HOA member to pay $100 toward the pool repair cost merely because they are a member..that's an assessment.  Charging a fee for each use of the pool (charged only to those who do use it) is not an assessment, but requiring that a member pay a flat amount just because they're a member is an assessment.  A fee charged to attendees of a meeting in order to offset the room rental, etc. is not an assessment.

[puzzling]

I think the access to business meetings is the point here. And no fees for that can be charged (except if it is mentioned in the bylaws, but even then only if it is allowed in the (state) laws)

Business meetings are a necessity for the democatic functioning of the organisation and nothing may be done to actively hinder the access of  members, the costs related to the meetings are normal to the organisation and should be carried by the organisation.

the more I think about it the more it becomes a "NO, you cannot do that"

 

[Richard Brown]

On 10/21/2022 at 1:13 PM, Guest Maria said:

my question is: do dues-paying members have to pay a fee to attend the business portion of their non-profit association meeting?

I agree with Mr. Mervosh here. I believe RONR prohibits charging an additional fee (regardless of what it is called) to attend the business meetings of an organization unless the bylaws specifically authorize charging such a fee. I believe the prohibition in RONR regarding assessing members additional fees unless provided for the bylaws would prohibit charging a fee to attend business meetings.  I believe the prohibition in  RONR goes beyond just prohibiting special assessments of all members but prohibits the assessing or charging of additional fees of any sort to attend meetings unless provided for in the bylaws.

I do believe that charging a fee for other types of special events such as parties, workshops or seminars would be permissible as those are not business meetings for which members have the fundamental right to attend. The right to attend meetings of the society is a basic right of membership  1:4, 23:7 and 25:11 RONR (12th ed.).  I do not believe an additional fee can be charged to exercise that right unless permitted in the bylaws

I also agree with the opinions of Atul Kapur, Gary Novosielski and Joshua Katz as expressed  in the following recent thread about the same topic: https://robertsrules.forumflash.com/topic/38853-charging-a-fee-to-members-to-attend-agm/ 

Edited October 22, 2022 at 11:18 AM by Richard Brown
Added last sentence in second paragraph

[Josh Martin]

On 10/21/2022 at 10:47 PM, Alicia Percell, PRP said:

I don't think that the RONR provision on assessments applies to the question being asked here. 

Assessments are things charged to all who are members of an organization, and they owe it simply because they're members.  For instance, if an HOA maintained a pool which needed repairs costing $10,000 and there were 100 members of the HOA, requiring each HOA member to pay $100 toward the pool repair cost merely because they are a member..that's an assessment.  Charging a fee for each use of the pool (charged only to those who do use it) is not an assessment, but requiring that a member pay a flat amount just because they're a member is an assessment.  A fee charged to attendees of a meeting in order to offset the room rental, etc. is not an assessment.

The right to attend meetings is a fundamental right of membership, and most of the other fundamental rights of membership are dependent on the right to attend meetings. To require members to pay a fee to attend meetings is, effectively, to require members to pay a fee to exercise their rights of membership. This is quite different from the use of a pool, which is not a right of membership under parliamentary law.

Further, there is nothing in RONR that suggests to me that the rule in 56:19 is applicable only to fees which are assessed to all members of the society.

So it seems to me that this is an assessment, in the sense that term is used in RONR (12th ed.) 56:19.

I think there may be more gray area in the case of a convention of delegates, but for a membership meeting at which all members of the society are entitled to attend, I do not think the society can charge a fee solely for attending the business meeting, unless the bylaws specifically authorize the society to charge such a fee. The society certainly could, however, charge members for various things which are related to the event but not directly connected to the business meeting and the rights of membership, such as seminars, meals, and so forth.

I also concur with Guest Puzzling that, even if the society wishes to authorize such a fee in its bylaws, it would also be prudent to check whether such a fee would be permissible under applicable law.

On 10/21/2022 at 1:13 PM, Guest Maria said:

This one hour of time is dedicated to approving minutes, reviewing treasurer reports, introducing the board and networking.

I would note that while there is no doubt that "approving minutes" and "reviewing treasurer reports" are parliamentary business, "introducing the board and networking" are not. So those activities could be moved until after adjournment of the business meeting, if the organization wishes.

It seems rather unlikely most people will show up solely for approving minutes and reviewing treasurer reports, so I imagine most attendees would choose to pay the fee at that point.

Edited October 22, 2022 at 11:29 AM by Josh Martin