HOA Budget Ratification in Washington: Running the Owners' Meeting

Quick answer: In Washington, the owners' budget ratification meeting must be held 14 to 50 days after the board sends every owner a copy of the adopted budget, and the board has 30 days after adoption to send it. At the meeting, the budget is ratified unless owners holding a majority of all the votes in the association (or a larger share if your declaration says so) vote to reject it. No quorum is required. RCW 64.90.525(1) sets out these rules.

This guide covers the meeting itself: the calendar, the notice, how to run the vote, and exactly what to put in the minutes. For the statute's budget-content and disclosure rules, see Dynamite Management's post on RCW 64.90.525 budget ratification.

The rule in the statute's words

(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.

(RCW 64.90.525(1)(a))

Does this apply to older Washington HOAs?

Yes, and it isn't new. RCW 64.90.525 has applied to communities created before July 1, 2018 since WUCIOA took effect in 2018. That rule used to be in RCW 64.90.080 and is now RCW 64.90.365(1)(g). For HOAs formerly under chapter 64.38 RCW, RCW 64.90.365(2) says 64.90.525 supersedes conflicting provisions in the governing documents. ESSB 5129 (2025 c 119) amended RCW 64.90.525, but it didn't create the ratification requirement for older communities. Very small plat communities with a capped assessment may be treated differently, so confirm with the statute / your attorney.

The ratification calendar

Work backward from your fiscal year. For a January 1 fiscal year, a common schedule is:

• the board adopts in late October;
• the budget and meeting notice go out in early November;
• the owners meet in early December.

That leaves room to fix a notice mistake and still ratify before January 1.

Sending the notice

The notice that goes to owners should include:

1. A copy of the budget itself, not just a summary. The statute requires a copy of the budget, and RCW 64.90.525(2) lists what the budget must contain (income and expenses by category, per-unit assessments and due dates, reserve contribution, reserve study statement, and the per-unit reserve surplus or deficiency).
2. The date, time and place (or video link) of the ratification meeting, set 14 to 50 days after the budget goes out.
3. A plain statement of how the vote works: the budget is ratified unless a majority of all votes in the association reject it, and no quorum is required.
4. How owners can vote if they can't attend, if your governing documents allow proxies, absentee ballots or electronic voting.

RCW 64.90.515 sets the general notice rules for owner meetings (how notice is delivered and what it must state). Confirm with the statute / your attorney that your notice satisfies both sections. Keep a copy of what was sent, the date, and the delivery method in the association's records.

Running the ratification meeting

A ratification meeting is usually short. Here's a simple agenda:

1. Call to order. Note the time and who is presiding.
2. Confirm notice. The secretary states when the budget and notice were sent and how.
3. Present the budget. The treasurer walks through the major changes, the assessment amount, and the reserve contribution.
4. Owner questions and discussion.
5. Rejection vote. The chair asks for votes to reject the budget. Count proxies and absentee ballots if your documents allow them.
6. Announce the result. State the number of votes to reject and the total votes in the association.
7. Adjourn.

For a general template, see how to create an HOA meeting agenda.

Three points that trip up boards

No quorum is needed. The statute says the budget is ratified whether or not a quorum is present. Don't cancel or adjourn the meeting for lack of a quorum. Hold it and record the result.

The math uses all votes in the association, not votes present. Rejection takes a majority of all votes allocated in the association. If your community has 100 equal votes and 30 owners show up and all 30 vote to reject, the budget is still ratified, because 30 is not a majority of 100.

Check your declaration for a higher threshold. The declaration can require a larger percentage to reject. It can't make rejection easier than the statute allows.

If the budget is rejected, or notice was defective

(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.

(RCW 64.90.525(1)(b))

In practice, that means:

• the old assessments stay in place;
• the board can propose a revised budget and run the ratification process again;
• a notice error (late, missing the budget, or a meeting date outside the 14-to-50-day window) has the same effect as a rejection.

Special assessments use the same meeting

(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.

(RCW 64.90.525(3))

The same calendar, notice and rejection vote apply. Dynamite Management covers the special-assessment rules in more depth in its RCW 64.90.525 post.

Sample minutes entry

Your minutes are the proof that the ratification happened correctly. Here's a sample entry you can adapt:

Owners' Budget Ratification Meeting, [Association Name] Date: [date] Time called to order: [time] Location: [place / video link] Presiding: [name, title] Recording secretary: [name]

Notice. The secretary reported that the board adopted the proposed [year] budget on [date] and that a copy of the budget and notice of this meeting were [mailed / emailed / delivered] to all owners on [date], which is [number] days before this meeting.

Presentation. The treasurer presented the budget, including total operating expenses of $[amount], a reserve contribution of $[amount], and a regular assessment of $[amount] per unit per [month / quarter], due [dates].

Owner discussion. Owners asked about [topics]. [Brief summary of answers.]

Vote. The chair called for votes to reject the proposed budget. Votes to reject: [number], including [number] by proxy / absentee ballot. Total votes allocated in the association: [number]. Votes needed to reject (majority of all votes [or larger percentage under Declaration § __]): [number].

Result. The rejection votes did not reach the required majority. Under RCW 64.90.525(1)(a), the [year] budget and the assessments in it are ratified. [Quorum was / was not present; no quorum is required for ratification.]

Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at [time].

For more on recording votes clearly, see how to record a motion and vote in HOA board minutes and what to include in HOA meeting minutes. Then follow your normal process to approve the minutes at the next meeting.

Don't forget the board meeting before it

The budget is adopted at a regular board meeting that follows Washington's open-meeting rules, including notice and the owner comment period. See RCW 64.90.445 explained for those requirements. Building the budget? HOA Fiscal's free HOA budget template for 2027 is a good starting point.

This is not legal advice. Confirm your association's procedures with the current statute, your governing documents and your attorney.

FAQ

Do we need a quorum to ratify the HOA budget in Washington? No. RCW 64.90.525(1)(a) says the budget is ratified whether or not a quorum is present, unless a majority of all the votes in the association reject it.

How much notice do owners get before the ratification meeting? The meeting must be 14 to 50 days after the board provides the budget, and the board must provide it within 30 days after adoption.

What happens if owners reject the budget? The last budget the owners ratified stays in effect until they ratify a new one the board proposes (RCW 64.90.525(1)(b)).

Can we send owners a summary instead of the budget? The statute requires a copy of the budget. A cover summary is a good addition, but not a replacement.

Does this apply to HOAs formed before 2018? Yes, in most cases, and it has since 2018. RCW 64.90.365 (formerly RCW 64.90.080) applies RCW 64.90.525 to most pre-July-2018 communities.

Cover: Photo by Jan van der Wolf on Pexels