BYLAWS

COLORADO UNION OF TAXPAYERS

ARTICLE I

1.01      Name. The name of this organization shall be the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, Incorporated, hereinafter referred to as CUT.

1.02      Offices.

1.02.a         Principle Office. The principle office of the corporation shall be located in the metropolitan area of Denver, Colorado. The corporation may have such other offices within the State of Colorado as the Board of Directors may designate or as the business of the corporation may require from time to time.

1.02.b         Registered Office. The registered office of the corporation, as required by the laws of the State of Colorado, may be but need not ~e the same as the principle office, and the registered office may be changed by order of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE II

2.01      Mission. The mission of CUT shall be to educate the public as to the dangers of excessive taxation, regulation, and government spending, thereby en­couraging the reduction of taxes, regulation, and spending accountability.

2.02      Specific Goals. The specific goals of CUT shall be:

2.02.a          To compile and distribute a legislative rating each election year, the purpose of which is to rate the fiscal conservatism of Colorado state legislators and the fiscal merits of individual bills passed;

2.02.b To protect Citizens’ rights to petition government;

2.02.c To protect citizens’ property rights; and

2.02.d         To serve as a counter balance to the spending lobbies of Colorado.

ARTICLE III

3.01      Voting Members. The Board of Directors shall constitute the voting membership of the corporation.

3.02      Contributing Members shall be those individuals contribut­ing, twenty-five (25) or more dollars annually to the Cor­poration. Such individuals shall receive CUT Legislative Ratings and such other status reports as may be deemed appropriate. Such reports may be in newsletter format.

ARTICLE IV

Officers

4.01      Officers. The officers of the corporation shall be a president, vice president, secret~ry, treasurer and such other vice presidents as may be ordered by the board of directors from time to time.

4.02      Term of Office. Elected officers’ shall be elected annually and shall serve for one year or until their successors take office.

4.03       Duties of Elected Officers.

4.03.a The President shall:

1.     Establish the agenda and preside over all meet­ings of the CUT Board of Directors;

2.     Select appointive officers and committee chair­men;

3.     Chair the budget committee and present a draft of the proposed budget to the board of directors at the first meeting of the fiscal year;

~        Issue call for all CUT meetings;

5.   Maintain the principle office of CUT and the CUT hotline;

6.     Assure integrity of CUT properties and current records; and

7.     Retire all records of a permanent nature that are over three years old to archives.

4.03.b The Vice President shall:

1.     Assist the president and perform such duties as may be determined b~ the president and/or the board of directors; and

2.     In the absence of the president, perform the duties of the president.

4.03.c The Secretary shall:

1.     Record the minutes of all CUT board of directors, executive committee, special and annual meetings;

2.     Be custodian of corporate records;

3.   Maintain at -the office of the principle place of business a record containing names, addresses, telephone and FAX numbers and email addresses of all directors;

b,     In general perform all duties incident to the office of secretary and such other duties as may be assigned by the president;

5.   Supervise the assistant secretary in the event one is appointed to assist in the responsibilities of the office; and

6.     Ascertain that any books, records or minutes of the corporation shall be in written format or such other mode capable of being converted into hard copy within a reasonable period.

4.03.d The Treasurer shall:

1.     Be chief financial officer of the corporation;

2.     Serve on the budget committee;

3.     Receive arid render receipts for monies paid to the corporation;

4.     Pay, out of funds on hand, all bills for con­tractual indebtedness and other just debt of the corporation upon maturity;

5.   Present a report of the- current financial status of the-corporation at each meeting of the board of directors;

6.     Maintain checking and investment accounts of financial institutions approved by the board of directors.

7.    Reconcile checking and investment statements;

8.     Coordinate contributor lists with the data—base manager and maintain hard-copy file of contrib­utors to include address, telephone and FAX numbers, e-mail address and any CUT-oriented activities; and

                                9. Submit financial reports and support documents to the auditor at the end  of the fiscal year.

4.04     Appointive Officers.

4.04.a          The Archivist shall collect, categorize and main­tain the long—term historical files of CUT and shall retrieve data of historical documentation when requested by the president or directors.

4.04.b          The Auditor shall review the treasurer’s accounts and prepare a written report for presentation to the board of directors at -the completion of the current fiscal year and at such other times as may be requested.

4.04.c          The Fund—Raiser/Data Base Manager shall maintain CUT data base records, mailing lists, and generate labels and correspondence for the purpose of fund raising.

4.04.d         The Legal Advisor shall be qualified to render legal advice and make appropriate recommendations in accordance with Colorado State Law, to the board of directors.

ARTICLE V

Board of Directors

5.01      Authority. Authority for all action of the corporation is vested in the hoard of directors.

5.02      Composition. The number of directors of the corporation shall not be less than seven (7). The exact number shall he determined by the members of the board of directors then in office.

5.03      Election. Directors shall be elected at the last meeting of the calendar year. A majority vote of the members of the board of directors shall elect.

5.0L~    Term of Office, A director shall be elected to serve for a term of two (2) years from 1 January of the year imme­diately following his/her election through 31 January of the succeeding year.

5.05      quorum. The quorum shall be five (5) members of the board of directors and shall include two (2) elected officers, If less than a quorum is present at a regular or special meeting, those in attendance may take measures to obtain a quorum or set a time to which to adjourn not more than twenty days from the date of the originally scheduled meeting.

5.06      Vacancies. A vacancy shall be declared if a director has three unexcused absences in one year. A director may re­sign at any time by giving written notice to the president or the secretary of the corporation, and, unless otherwise specified, the acc-eptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to effectuate it. Any vacancy occurring on the hoard of directors shall be filled by a call for a special meeting for that purpose or at the next regular meeting. A director elected to fill a vacancy shall serve for the balance of the unexpired term of his predecessor.

5.07      Meetings.

5.07.a         Regular Meetings of the board of directors shall be held at least quarterly and at such other times as deemed necessary.

5.07.b         Special Meetings of the board of directors may be called by the president or any two directors. Only business specified in the call may be addressed at that meeting.

5.07.c         Annual Recognition Breakfast shall be held in the last quarter of each year for the purpose of recognizing outstanding individuals for their fis­cally conservative performance.

ARTICLE VI

Executive Committee

6.01      Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall be composed of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and such other directors as may be designated by the board of directors.

6.02      Meetings. The executive committee shall meet at such times as it is deemed necessary for required action that must be taken between board meetings.

6.0.3     Quorum. A majority of the membership of the executive committee shall he required for any action taken. Such action shall be subject to ratification by the board of directors at their next meeting.

ARTICLE VII

Standing and Special Committees

7.01      Standing Committees may include but shall not be limited to:

1.    Annual Recognition Committee

2.    Awards

3.     Budget arid Finance

4.    Bylaws

5.   Communication

6.    Fundraising

7.    Press Conference and Public Relations

8.    Ratings

9.    Membership.

7.02    Special Committees may be appointed to perform speci­fic tasks and cease to exist upon     issuance of final report or dissolution thereof by the board of directors.

ARTICLE VIII

Fiscal Policies

8.01     The Fiscal Year shall be from 1 January through 31 Decem­ber of calendar year.

8.02    Signatories. There shall be three (3) signatories to conduct business of the corporation to include the president, treasurer, and one designee from the board of directors.

8.03    Checks Under Five Hundred Dollars. Checks to be issued in an amount under five hundred (500) dollars shall be signed by the president or the treasurer.

8.04   Checks Over Five Hundred Dollars. Each check in amount over five hundred (500) dollars shall, be signed by the treasurer arid one other signatory.

8.05      Contracts. Every con-tract obligating the corporation for more than five hundred (500) dollars shall require two authorized signature.

8.06   Board-approved Contracts. Every project with an esti­mated cost in excess of fifteen hundred (1500) dollars shall. require approval by the board of directors.

8.07      Loans. There shall be no advance payment or loan made to any officer or director of the corporation.

ARTICLE IX

Amendment of Bylaws

9.01        These bylaws may be amended at a meeting of the CUT Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those directors present and voting, provided that notice of the proposed amendments shall have been issued not less than twenty days prior to the date set for that vote.

ARTICLE X

PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

10.01      The rules of order contained in the current edition of R0BERT’S RULES OF ORDER NEWLY REVISED shall govern the proceedings of CUT in all cases where they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws, any special rules of order CUT may adopt and the laws of the State of Colorado.

ARTICLE XI

Dissolution

11.01      Prior to any called meeting for the purpose of dissolu­tion, thirty (30) days’ notice must be conveyed, to every director.

11.02      Dissolution of CUT shall occur upon obtaining a two/thirds (2/3) vote of the voting body approving such action.

11.03      The assets of CUT shall inure to no director of the corpor­ation. Corporate assets shall he conveyed to a society with similar fiscal objectives, with approval of the board.

Original bylaws               Adopted  November 1976

Revised 15 October 1991

Amended 15 January 1999

Revised 13 September 1999

Amended 13 March 2000