How does an HOA board run the meeting where it adopts next year's budget?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 5, 2026

How to notice and run the HOA budget adoption meeting: Texas, Florida and Colorado notice rules, the packet, a sample motion, the owner veto meeting and a timeline.

Part of the HOA board handbook: treasurer and money.

Adopt it at a noticed open meeting, then finish your state's follow-up

The budget is a board vote, and in most self-managed associations it happens at a regular or special board meeting in October or November. Three things make that vote hold up: notice that names the budget and the assessment as agenda items, a motion that states the dollar figures, and whatever your state requires after the vote. In Colorado that is a summary to every owner and a meeting where owners can veto the budget. In Florida it is a copy of the budget, or a notice that one is free on request, to every member. Get any of those wrong and an owner who dislikes the new dues has a procedural argument for not paying them, which is a worse fight than an argument about the numbers. Your declaration and bylaws can add more: a member vote on increases above a cap, a deadline for adopting the budget, or a required budget meeting. Read them before you set dates. Rules vary by state and by governing documents, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

Notice rules in Texas, Florida and Colorado

Texas. Property Code 209.0051(h) bars the board from approving an annual budget, amending one, or increasing assessments except in an open meeting with prior notice to owners. An email vote or unanimous written consent does not count for this item. Under 209.0051(e) the notice gives the date, hour, place and general subject. Either mail it 10 to 60 days before the meeting, or post it at least 144 hours before a regular meeting (72 hours before a special meeting) on common property or on a website available to members, and also email it to every owner who has registered an email address with the association. Write "adoption of the 2027 budget and regular assessment" as the subject, not "treasurer's report". Florida. Statutes 720.303(2)(c)1 requires every board meeting notice to identify the agenda items and be posted conspicuously in the community at least 48 hours ahead, or mailed or delivered to each member 7 days ahead. Under 720.303(2)(c)2 the board may not levy an assessment at a meeting unless the notice says assessments will be considered and states their nature. If the budget carries a special assessment, the notice must be mailed, delivered or emailed to members and posted on the property at least 14 days before the meeting. Members may speak on every designated agenda item, 720.303(2)(b). Colorado. C.R.S. 38-33.3-308(2)(a) opens board meetings to all owners and requires the agenda to be reasonably available. Under 308(2.5)(b) owners must get a chance to speak on an issue before the board votes on it. The board's vote adopts a proposed budget, and the owner step in a later section decides whether it takes effect.

What goes in the owner packet

Send the packet with the meeting notice, not on the night of the meeting. Owners who read the numbers at home ask sharper questions and fewer of them. A packet for a 60-home community can fit on four pages: - The proposed budget by line, with the current year's budget and the projected year-end actual in columns beside it. - The assessment per home, old and new, in dollars and as a percent change. - The reserve contribution and the reserve study figure it is based on. - A one-page memo on the three largest changes, for example: "Insurance renewal quoted at $31,400, up $6,900. Landscaping contract year two, up 4 percent per the signed agreement. Reserve contribution raised $4,000 to follow the study's funding plan." Florida sets minimum contents. Under 720.303(6)(a) the budget must show estimated revenues and expenses for the year, the estimated surplus or deficit at the end of the current year, and every fee the association pays for recreational amenities as a separate line. A Florida association with 100 or more parcels must also post the annual budget, and any proposed budget to be considered at the annual meeting, on its website or app, 720.303(4)(b)1.f.

Running the meeting and the motion to adopt

Keep the budget item near the top of the agenda, while people are still paying attention. A workable order: 1. Confirm a quorum of directors. 2. The treasurer presents for ten minutes or less, covering the total, the per-home change and the three drivers from the memo. 3. Owners comment on the budget item. Set a time limit per speaker in advance and apply it evenly. 4. Directors discuss and propose any changes. 5. Motion, second and a recorded vote. In Florida, directors may not vote by proxy or by secret ballot at board meetings, 720.303(2)(c)3. Elsewhere, recording each director's vote by name is still the better practice for a dues decision. A motion the board can copy: "I move that the board adopt the 2027 operating and reserve budget as presented in the packet dated October 20, 2026, with total expenses of $148,200, a reserve contribution of $26,000, and a regular assessment of $205 per lot per month, effective January 1, 2027." If the board trims a line at the table, restate the motion with the amended totals so the minutes record the final numbers, not the draft. Put a special assessment in its own motion with its own amount, purpose and due dates. The minutes line can be one sentence: "The board adopted the 2027 budget as amended, total expenses $146,700, assessment $203 per lot per month, by a vote of 4 to 1, with directors voting as follows."

Colorado's owner veto meeting

C.R.S. 38-33.3-303(4)(a)(I) gives the board 90 days after it adopts a proposed budget to mail a summary by first-class mail, or otherwise deliver it, which can include posting the proposed budget on the association's website, to all owners, and to set a date for an owner meeting to consider it. The meeting has to come within a reasonable time after the summary goes out, or as the bylaws allow. That meeting is a meeting of the owners, so the owner meeting notice rules in 308(1) apply. Deliver the notice by hand or prepaid mail to each unit 10 to 50 days before the meeting, post it physically in a conspicuous place where that is practical, and list the agenda, including any budget changes. Owners who have asked for email notice should get it by email too, 308(2)(b). Under 303(4)(a)(II)(A), unless the declaration says otherwise, the budget is deemed approved unless a majority of all owners, or a larger share the declaration sets, vetoes it at that meeting, whether or not a quorum is present. If owners veto it, the last budget the board proposed that owners did not veto stays in effect until a new one survives. A narrow exception covers communities formed before July 1, 1992 whose declaration caps the assessment or the yearly increase, when the proposed budget stays under that cap. The simplest way to run it: mail the summary and the owner meeting notice in one envelope, timed so the meeting falls 10 to 50 days later and before the new fiscal year starts.

A sample calendar for a January 1 fiscal year

This uses mailed notice for a Texas or Colorado association. Shift the dates to your documents and notice method. - September 15: treasurer finishes the draft with the insurance renewal quote and contract renewal prices in hand. - October 8: the board reviews the draft at its regular open meeting and gives the treasurer changes. - October 20: adoption meeting notice and owner packet mailed, 23 days ahead. - November 12: adoption meeting and vote. - November 14: Colorado mails the budget summary with notice of the owner meeting. Florida sends each member a copy of the budget or a notice that a copy is free on request. - December 9: Colorado owner meeting, 25 days after mailing. - December 10: invoices or coupon books for the new amount go out, and owners on autopay get a reminder to change the amount. - January 1: the new assessment is due. Leave slack. If the insurance quote arrives late, the dates in October slide, and Colorado still needs its owner meeting before January. Our guide on sending annual HOA dues invoices covers the billing step.

Mistakes that give owners grounds to fight the new dues

Approving the budget by email. Texas forbids it for budgets and assessment increases. Florida lets the board levy an assessment only at a meeting whose notice says assessments are on the agenda. Everywhere, an email vote skips the owner comment that Florida and Colorado guarantee. A notice that says "budget discussion" and nothing about assessments. In Florida the notice must say assessments will be considered. Name the assessment everywhere. Adopting a percentage instead of a dollar figure. "Dues up 6 percent" invites arguments about rounding and about which base year. Put the per-home amount in the motion. Missing a cap in the declaration. Many declarations limit yearly increases or require a member vote above a set percentage. Check before the packet goes out, not after owners point it out. Billing Colorado owners before the veto meeting. The budget is only proposed until that meeting passes without a veto. Changing the budget in March with a phone call among directors. A Texas amendment needs the same noticed open meeting as the original vote. Our guide on fixing a mistake in an adopted HOA budget covers that, and our guide on running a mid-year HOA budget review shows how to spot the problem early.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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