fitz,
We, too, work off of a budget system. Our budget is put together by the incoming and outgoing officers and voted on at the last meeting of the school year for the upcoming year. That way we have authorization to spend on certain items on the first day of school. It really minimizes the "demand for funds" hassle.
We also used some of Critter's forms. GOOD STUFF. [img]smile.gif[/img]
We, too, set up an annual budget and manage our committees like Learning described. Like Kathie said, a budget will probably eliminate many of your voting problems. An annual budget also takes the heat off the officers who are bombarded with requests for money at the most inopportune times. It's hard to keep the peace when you must debate the merits of every expenditure as a group. Just as you have experienced, special interest groups gel as needed to promote their personal agenda.
You might want to propose the establishment of a budget for next year. I have info about how to set one up, if you would like some help.
We work similar to the way Kathie does. We put together our annual budget prior to the beginning of the year. Our Executive Board (officers and committee chairs) discuss and then approve the budget. The budget then goes before our membership at the first meeting of the school year, in September. If it is approved by 2/3 of the membership, it becomes the operating budget for the year; the executive board has the authority to approve changes up to $200; after that, the membership would have to vote on any changes.
Individuals that have line items in the budget (e.g., evening programs, assemblies chair, etc.) are given the approved amounts, and they can then spend up to that amount at their discretion. For example, if the assemblies chairperson has $3000 for the year, that person can then arrange assemblies for the school year and spend up to $3000; she/he doesn't have to put to a vote every amount that gets spent for each show. It's just too cumbersome that way.
The only other time we might have a vote over money is if there is money "left over" at the end of the year, more than was budgeted for. At that point, we create a budget amendment, and again take a vote, first by the board and then by the membership, again by 2/3 majority.
So, we really only put expenditures to a vote twice a year, unless something really unusual comes up; otherwise, we just trust the chairpeople to do their jobs and stay within their budgets. We also have an audit done at the end of each year, so there is a check on the finances. It would make me crazy to have to vote on every expense!
A budget would solve your multiple voting problems. When we set our budget in September we give all the committees and events a certain budgeted amount. For instance, copy committee may get $300 a year for copies, Holiday Social gets $350, transportation for field trips $2,000. Whatever. If something un-budgeted comes up, then we have to vote on it. Like Critter said, we also don't have many financial items to vote on during the year.
We also set an expected budget for income, such as spring and fall fundraisers. A preliminary budget is drawn up by the treasurer based on historical data from the prior year, looked over and adjusted by the pta board and then presented to the general membership. At that meeting anyone can suggest changes. The proposed budget is sent out to the entire school and then voted on the following month. That seems more straightforward then voting on each item...
