MASCUSA
Board Bulletin on Treasury
Dear Member,

 

There have been two issues raised recently by members that require a response from the Board of Directors.  

First: The vote to change the amount required to sign checks was taken on May 9th, 2012 and is reflected in the minutes of that meeting which are posted in the files section of the members' lists.  This amount has been $1,000 since the early 90's when the bylaws were first drafted and approved.  The amount was changed from a limit of $1,000 to $1,500 due to the complexities of obtaining the second signature which causes significant delays in payments.

The bylaws do not require a vote of the membership on this issue.   Section 12.1 states that "These bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed, and new Bylaws may be adopted, by a majority of the Board, at any meeting of the Board at which a quorum is present, except to amendments or supplements which modify the voting rights of members or which change provisions of these Bylaws which require the vote of the membership."  Our Bylaws do not specify this issue as one requiring a vote of the membership.

 

To add to the confusion on this issue, when the edit was done to the bylaws to change the limit amount from $1,000 to $1,500, the portion of section 6.4 which states that Board approval is required for any expenditure over $100 was inadvertently deleted. That policy was put in place by a vote of the Board on 9/10/11. The bylaws on the website have been corrected.  Hopefully, knowledge of this policy will help to alleviate members' concerns about the Treasury.

Second:  An "audit" of the Treasury was not done prior to the end of the recent board term (in fact, we are not sure when or if one has ever been done). The Board has sought out expert and independent consultation on what would be appropriate for an organization of our size and purpose.  To date, all experts consulted have said that we do not want a formal audit; that it would be far too expensive and difficult to conduct. Instead it has been recommended by more than one party that we conduct an internal review of the books by a committee.  To that end we are soliciting applications from members with appropriate accounting experience who would be willing to serve on a Treasury Review Committee.  This committee will only exist for the time it takes to conduct the review and issue a report on its findings and recommendations.  Please address your application to serve on this committee to
[email protected], and include your qualifications.  We are also implementing changes in processes that will make it easier in the future to reconcile the various financial activities of the club.  We request your patience as we move forward with these improvements.   As always, the members will be kept fully apprised.

The Bylaws, Section 6.4, state "The Treasury books shall be audited at the end of every term or upon replacement of a Treasurer."  One interpretation of this language could be that we are not required to have an audit if the current Treasurer continues into another term.  This unclear wording is something that can be addressed in the required rewrite of our Bylaws as we move forward in AKC.  It is our intention to hold Town Hall meetings when the Bylaws are rewritten to get input from members, similar to the manner we did with the Breed Standard.  This rewrite will require approval by AKC and a vote of our membership.


Respectfully,

MASCUSA Board of Directors