RCW 64.90.525
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Budgets — Assessments — Special assessments
WUCIOA provision establishing the budget ratification procedure. Requires boards to distribute proposed budgets to owners within 30 days of adoption, schedule a ratification meeting within 14-50 days, and treat the budget as ratified unless rejected by majority vote.
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Statutory Text
Verified Apr 19, 2026 · LEG_WA_GOV
(1)(a) Within thirty days after adoption of any proposed budget for the common interest community, the board must provide a copy of the budget to all the unit owners and set a date for a meeting of the unit owners to consider ratification of the budget not less than fourteen nor more than fifty days after providing the budget. Unless at that meeting the unit owners of units to which a majority of the votes in the association are allocated or any larger percentage specified in the declaration reject the budget, the budget and the assessments against the units included in the budget are ratified, whether or not a quorum is present. (b) If the proposed budget is rejected or the required notice is not given, the periodic budget last ratified by the unit owners continues until the unit owners ratify a subsequent budget proposed by the board. (2) The budget must include: (a) The projected income to the association by category; (b) The projected common expenses by category; (c) The amount of the assessments per unit and the date the assessments are due; (d) The current amount of regular assessments budgeted for contribution to the reserve account; (e) A statement of whether the association has a reserve study that meets the requirements of RCW 64.90.550 and, if so, the extent to which the budget meets or deviates from the recommendations of that reserve study; and (f) The current deficiency or surplus in reserve funding expressed on a per unit basis. (3) The board, at any time, may propose a special assessment. The assessment is effective only if the board follows the procedures for ratification of a budget described in subsection (1) of this section and the unit owners do not reject the proposed assessment. The board may provide that the special assessment may be due and payable in installments over any period it determines and may provide a discount for early payment. [ 2025 c 119 s 22 ; 2018 c 277 s 326 .]
Assessment
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| (2)(c) | The budget carries the per-unit figure and the due date on its face. An owner should not have to read a separate schedule to learn either. |
| (3) | A special assessment goes through the same steps as a budget. The board proposes it, the owners get it, a meeting is set 14 to 50 days out, and it takes effect unless owners holding a majority of the votes reject it. The board may spread it over installments and may discount paying early. |
Financial
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| (1)(a) | After the board adopts a budget, they must send a summary to all owners within 30 days and schedule a meeting to ratify it. |
| (1)(a) | The budget vote must happen between 14 and 50 days after the summary is sent out. The budget passes unless a majority of all owners vote to reject it. |
| (1)(b) | A rejected budget does not leave the association without one. The last budget the owners ratified keeps running. Failing to give the notice has the same effect as a rejection. |
| (2) | Six items, all of them, in every budget. The list is statutory and the declaration cannot shorten it. |
| (2)(a) | Income is budgeted by category, not as one line. |
| (2)(b) | Expenses are budgeted by category, not as one line. |
Reserves
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| (2)(d) | The reserve contribution is a named line in the budget, drawn from regular assessments. |
| (2)(e) | Two answers. Whether there is a reserve study meeting RCW 64.90.550, and by how much this budget departs from what it recommends. Having no study is an answer the budget must give. |
| (2)(f) | The reserve gap is stated per unit, which is the figure an owner and a buyer can use. |
Referenced By
- RCW 64.90.485 Cross-references
Other sections in this chapter
- RCW 64.90
- RCW 64.90.065 — Adjustment of dollar amounts
- RCW 64.90.365
- RCW 64.90.370 — Election of preexisting common interest communities, plat communities, miscellaneous communities
- RCW 64.90.410 — Board members, officers, and committees
- RCW 64.90.445 — Board Meetings — Notice and Conduct
- RCW 64.90.450 — Quorum
- RCW 64.90.455 — Unit owner voting
- RCW 64.90.470 — Insurance
- RCW 64.90.480
- RCW 64.90.485
- RCW 64.90.490 — Other liens
Legal Topics
Articles Citing This Statute
Legal references last verified July 4, 2026.
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