chalice with rainbow flame
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County

Proposed Bylaws Revisions

Approved by the Board of Trustees, April 24, 2012;
to be voted on at Annual Congregational Meeting, June 10, 2012.

PROPOSED BYLAW REVISION CONCERNING BOARD'S DISCRETIONARY SPENDING

Article VII, Section 3 is amended to read:
"Section 3. Expenditure Restriction. The Board of Trustees shall not, without the approval of the Membership, during any fiscal year authorize any expenditures which aggregate more than one percent above the budget, except for currently necessary building expenses from Liquid Reserve pursuant to the Reserve Fund Resolution."

Explanation: Article VII, Section 3 presently reads:
Section 3. Expenditure Restriction. The Board of Trustees shall not, without the approval of the Membership, during any fiscal year authorize any expenditures which aggregate more than one percent above the budget, except for emergency expenditures pursuant to the Reserve Fund Resolution."

The present text refers to the Reserve Fund Resolution adopted in 2010, which has been rescinded and replaced. The new Reserve Fund Resolution adopted in 2011 does not speak in terms of "emergency expenditures," so the proposed amendment is suggested to make the Bylaws and the Reserve Fund Resolution consistent. Note that this leaves undetermined the power of the Board to authorize an emergency expenditure that is not an expenditure on the building. The Board may wish to suggest additional language on that question.

PROPOSED BYLAW REVISION CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

Reserve Fund Resolution, Part B, sections 1 & 4, and Part C are amended by changing "the Budget and Investment Committee" to "the Investment Committee".

Explanation: The Board of Trustees has judged that the roles pertaining to preparing a yearly budget and to determining the nature of investment accounts were too disparate for one committee, and chose to keep these two roles separate. The above amendment will invest the latter role in an Investment Committee.