Information about WUCIOA (#2)

December 8, 2019 Lost River Airport Association

This is the second in a series of communications intended to inform LRAA members about the results of the Board’s review of the new Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WUCIOA).

We have created a Q & A area on the LRAA Governance page to publish responses to member questions regarding the WUCIOA (Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act). Future member questions and Board responses about WUCIOA will be found there.

Please use the website Contact Us form [ select Governance (WUCIOA) from the topic dropdown ] to submit your questions to the LRAA Board.

(Questions sent by members may have been slightly edited to remove personal information and to allow for clear, concise responses. An effort has been made to stay true to the question/concern being raised.)

MEMBER QUESTION #1
Did we vote to join WUCIOA at our May membership meeting?

BOARD ANSWER #1
The vote taken at the 2019 LRAA Annual Meeting was not on whether to adopt WUCIOA in full. Rather, it was to determine whether, given the implications of a recent court case involving LRAA, the Members attending that meeting felt it was worth the time and expense for the Board to evaluate and explain WUCIOA more fully. As a result of the interest shown by what appeared to be a clear majority of those Members, the Board is now evaluating the law and has put onto the website the first of a series of communications on the results of that effort. We will continue to add content over the coming months as we continue our evaluation.

Using the procedure called for by WUCIOA (RCW 64.90.095) we will have a discussion of that law at the 2020 Annual Meeting, followed a short time thereafter by a written vote of all Members. Here’s a link to Section .095 in case you’re interested reading it yourself: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.90.095.

MEMBER QUESTION #2
One of the two mandatory sections of WUCIOA, 64.90.525, appears to give more power to the board to raise dues than they’ve had in the past. It appears to say that a budget proposed by the board must be rejected by the votes of a majority of the total membership or it passes. Today doesn’t a majority present at the meeting have to vote to approve the proposed budget?

BOARD RESPONSE #2
There are a couple things to think about here.

First, this provision imposes mandatory obligations on ALL Washington common interest communities including LRAA, so we cannot avoid compliance with it. See: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.90.525

Second, the new law talks about the “votes” of a majority of the membership. Under LRAA’s Revised and Restated Bylaws, members may vote by proxy or by mailed in proxy. They need not be present at the Annual Membership Meeting to have their votes counted.

Third, under LRAA’s current Bylaws it does not take a “majority” of the membership to approve a budget. Today a quorum of the Members for purposes of conducting business at the Annual Membership meeting, where the annual budget is voted on, is 25% of the members in good standing, present in person or by proxy. We currently have 172 Members (not counting Access Owners who can’t vote on the budget). 25% of that number is 43. If only 43 members attended an annual membership meeting, 22 members could approve a proposed budget.

The Board hopes that this new law encourages more members to become aware of and engaged in the business of the Association. At the end of the day, members should elect Trustees who they trust to do a good job for all members. Those of us currently serving on the Board hopes the membership feels we’ve done that.