Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

While the CICA Act is relatively new and for purposes of this response I will assume your association is older, the Act attempts to overlay and supersede all existing association declarations to the contrary unless the Act specifically exempts it from applicability. One exemption (Sec 1-75) is for associations 10 or less units or annual budgets of $100,000 or less unless the association votes for it to apply. From the little you've provided, let's assume the Act applies or the association meets the exemption but has elected for it to apply. In that case it covers your association when it comes to budgets and the budget process. In this regard the CICA Act is very much like the Condo Act and says if the proposed budget is more than 15% higher than the last one, then unit owner may have an opportunity to vote on it. So yes it can supersede the declaration. If your declaration provided a LOWER amount (say a 10% increase) triggered owner involvement, there may be an issue. The other factor is that older associations only need to be in full compliance with the CICA Act by 1/1/2012, NOT necessarily this year. You may want to have the association's attorneys, if any, review the CICA Act against the declaration.