Washington HOAs · RCW 64.90.525

Washington HOA Budget Ratification Calculator

Every Washington HOA follows the same budget ratification steps, including communities formed before 2018. Enter the date your board adopts the budget and get every deadline.

Your dates

Enter the date of the board meeting where you adopt the budget.

Defaults to a week after adoption until you change it.

Showing an example: the earliest adoption meeting you could still notice today. Change the dates to yours.

Your deadlines

  1. Nov 4, 2026Wednesday

    Notice the adoption meeting

    Send owners the time, date, place and agenda at least 14 days ahead, and share any materials the board gets before the meeting. RCW 64.90.445(2)(f), (g)

  2. Nov 18, 2026Wednesday

    Board adopts the budget

    Open with at least 15 minutes of owner comment before the vote. Check the budget shows the reserve contribution, your reserve study status, and the reserve surplus or shortfall per home. RCW 64.90.445(2)(e), 64.90.525(2)

  3. Nov 25, 2026Wednesday

    Budget goes to every owner

    Your send date. Put the ratification meeting date in the same mailing. RCW 64.90.525(1)(a)

  4. Dec 9, 2026Wednesday

    Earliest ratification meeting

    14 days after you send the budget. Owner meetings need 14 to 50 days' notice, so this mailing can serve as that notice. RCW 64.90.525(1)(a), 64.90.445(1)(c)

  5. Dec 18, 2026Friday

    Last day to send it

    30 days after adoption. If the notice is not given, the last budget owners ratified keeps running. RCW 64.90.525(1)

  6. Jan 14, 2027Thursday

    Latest ratification meeting

    50 days after you send it. The budget is ratified unless owners holding a majority of all votes reject it, quorum or not. RCW 64.90.525(1)(a)

Your dates work. Hold the ratification meeting between Dec 9, 2026 and Jan 14, 2027.
Effortless HOA keeps the budget, owner notices and minutes in one place, so every step has a record.
Start a free trial

Based on RCW 64.90.445 and RCW 64.90.525 as of October 2026. Your declaration and bylaws can add steps. This is a planning tool, not legal advice.

How Washington budget ratification works

The board writes and adopts the budget, but owners get a meeting where they can reject it. For a January fiscal year, all of this lands in November and December.

Three clocks, not one

The adoption meeting needs 14 days' notice. The budget must go to every owner within 30 days of adoption. The ratification meeting must fall 14 to 50 days after the budget is sent, so it is measured from the mailing, not from adoption.

What the budget must show

Projected income and expenses by category, the assessment per home and when it is due, the current reserve contribution, whether you have a reserve study that meets the statute and how the budget compares to it, and the reserve surplus or shortfall per home.

Ratified unless rejected

Owners do not have to approve the budget. It is ratified unless owners holding a majority of all votes in the association reject it, whether or not a quorum is present. A missed notice means last year's budget keeps running.

A sample timeline

Say your board adopts the 2027 budget at its meeting on Wednesday, November 18, 2026. Notice of that meeting must reach owners by November 4. You mail the adopted budget on November 25, well inside the 30 days that run to December 18. The ratification meeting can then be held any day from December 9, 2026 through January 14, 2027.

If the board instead waits until December 18 to mail the budget, the meeting window moves to January 1 through February 6, 2027. A budget that is not ratified until February means January dues are billed at last year's amount, so earlier mailing is usually better.

Other rules that apply at the same meetings

  • Start every board meeting with at least 15 minutes for owners to comment on agenda items before the board votes (RCW 64.90.445).
  • Make materials sent to the board before the meeting reasonably available to owners, except unapproved minutes and executive session items.
  • Offer at least one way to pay assessments at no charge to the owner, such as check or a free bank transfer (RCW 64.90.480(10)).
  • Update the reserve study every year, with a professional site inspection at least every third year (RCW 64.90.545). The budget has to say whether you have one.

Tip: one mailing, two jobs

Owner meetings need 14 to 50 days' notice under RCW 64.90.445. If you send the budget and the ratification meeting notice together, one mailing starts both clocks and you cannot get them out of step.

In Oregon there is no ratification meeting in the statute. The board adopts the budget at least annually and sends owners a summary within 30 days (ORS 94.645). See the HOA budget planning guide for both states.

Questions boards ask

Does budget ratification apply to Washington HOAs formed before 2018?
Yes. RCW 64.90.525 has applied to communities created before July 1, 2018 since July 1, 2018 (RCW 64.90.365(1)(g), formerly RCW 64.90.080), and it supersedes a pre-2018 declaration's own budget process (RCW 64.90.365(2)). It is not one of the sections SB 5129 extended on January 1, 2026.
When does the 30-day clock start?
It starts when the board adopts the proposed budget. Within 30 days after adoption, the board must provide a copy of the budget to all owners and set a date for the ratification meeting.
Is the meeting window counted from adoption or from the mailing?
From the mailing. RCW 64.90.525 says the meeting must be not less than 14 nor more than 50 days after the board provides the budget to owners. That is why this calculator asks for both dates.
Do we need a quorum at the ratification meeting?
No. The budget and the assessments in it are ratified unless owners holding a majority of all the votes in the association reject it, whether or not a quorum is present. Your declaration may require a larger percentage to reject.
What happens if owners reject the budget or we miss the notice?
The periodic budget last ratified by the owners continues until the owners ratify a new one the board proposes. In practice that can mean another cycle at last year's assessment.
Do special assessments follow the same steps?
Yes. A special assessment is effective only if the board follows the same ratification procedure and the owners do not reject it. The board may let it be paid in installments.

Related Resources

HOA Budget Planning Guide →WUCIOA Compliance Checklist →Washington HOA Laws →Free Budget Template →Reserve Fund Calculator →

Keep the budget, the notices and the minutes in one place

Effortless HOA gives volunteer boards budgets, owner email, documents and meeting minutes together, from $3 per home per month.

See How It Works

30-day free trial · No credit card required · Cancel anytime

See pricing