SMA/UCFS Members present at the Annual Member Meeting being held on November 19th at 5:00pm in Chicago, IL will be asked to vote on the Amendment below.

The vote is needed in order to clarify the Society of Municipal Arborists (d.b.a. the Urban and Community Forestry Society) Articles of Incorporation, which is filed in the State of Ohio. A clerical update is needed in order to clarify the tax-exempt status of SMA/UCFS. In the current Articles of Incorporation, the organization is listed as a 501(c)3. However, the organization is actually filed as a 501(c)6 with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This is filing error from the early days of the Society, which needs to be addressed now. The Amendment proposed will clarify this tax-exempt status and will be filed with the State of Ohio.

SMA’s bylaws and articles are silent on the issue of amendments to the articles, so Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 1702.38 controls the process for amendment to SMA’s Articles of Incorporation, which statute provides in subsection (C)(2): “The voting members present in person, by use of authorized communications equipment, by mail, or, if permitted, by proxy at a meeting held for that purpose, may adopt an amendment by the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting members present if a quorum is present or, if the articles or the regulations provide or permit, by the affirmative vote of a greater or lesser proportion or number of the voting members, and by the affirmative vote of the voting members of any particular class that is required by the articles or the regulations.”

Please review the information provided below.