Serving on a condominium board is unpaid volunteer work and can be time-consuming given the need to learn about association laws and regulations while tending to issues of importance to unit owners. But when board members begin asking for forms of compensation or reimbursement, how much is too much?

Some board members get compensated for all or a portion of cell phone bills they use for association business, and condo authorities say at least one board member in Broward County is reimbursed for housekeeping services in exchange for hosting board meetings.

Charlotte Greenbarg, president of the Broward Coalition, said these types of issues are more common in large condominiums because so many people are involved. The topic will be discussed at the coalition's June 12 meeting with state Sen. Jeremy Ring, state Rep. Ari Porth and Katzman Garfinkel attorney Donna Berger.

Berger said board members need to guard against abuse.

"Board presidents don't make decisions alone; the entire board must meet and discuss items before deciding on them," she said. "If the president is spending too much time on his or her cell phone gathering information to present at the board meeting for a vote, then he or she should parcel out the work among fellow board members."

Assistant condo ombudsman Bill Raphan said the law is unclear, but a board member can only be compensated if the governing documents of the condominium allow it. "There's a difference between compensation and reimbursement, and they are both abused," Raphan said. "You have to look at each individual case."

Raphan said he's heard of cases in which unit owners have helped purchase a computer for their board president so he can work with electronic documents. In what he calls an extreme case, a board member was getting part of her electric bill paid for because she was on the computer and running her air-conditioning while doing condo business. Some cases, Raphan said, like reimbursing a board member for gas to visit a lawyer's office 30 miles away, are more straightforward.

"You can't say across the board [that] you can't reimburse someone," Raphan said.

Berger agrees. She told the Broward Coalition that only "common essentials" should be covered, such as a board member using his or her money to purchase toilet paper for the clubhouse or pool chemicals. "If the board president feels compelled to clean his or her home before each meeting, I suggest holding the meetings at other board members' or unit owners' homes," Berger said. "The association must be sure that it only expends common expenses in a manner not contrary to the statute and the association's governing documents."