The association maintains a "holiday fund" that distributed more than $100,000 to 32 building staff members in the 2025–2026 holiday season. The fund is administered by a seven-member committee appointed by Board President Scott Timmerman, which includes Timmerman himself and the Board Treasurer. It operates without W-2s or 1099s being issued to recipients, without formal board authorization, and entirely outside the association's official financial statements.
On February 17, 2026, a sitting member of the Board of Directors submitted a records request seeking documents related to the Holiday Fund — in their own words, to "make informed decisions about the Fund's legality and in the best interests of the Association." On March 2, 2026, HOA attorney James "Jamie" Stevens of Burke Law denied the request, arguing the fund is "not controlled by the Association" and contains "no funds sourced from common expense assessments." That defense unraveled quickly.
Stevens denied a board member access to records about a financial program operating inside the building that board member was elected to govern.
The association paid $2,681 in owner assessments for printing, postage, and envelope stuffing for Holiday Fund communications to all 700 units. The attorney had initially estimated that cost at $400 — a figure he later revised upward by 570%. In February 2020, the Holiday Fund's bank account went overdrawn by $4,759.50 after the fund co-chair issued a second round of checks before the first cleared. With a noon deadline from the bank, Board President Barry Bowen suggested advancing $5,000 from the HOA, Treasurer Bruce Boruszak agreed, and the transfer was made — without owner vote or board resolution. The association monitored the fund's account, transferred money into it unilaterally, and assumed liability for its debts. The Holiday Fund bank account appeared on the Association's own books through August 31, 2024.
The attorney's own letter simultaneously denied association involvement while disclosing that the President appoints the committee, the association provides employee data including years of service and attendance records, there is a standardized distribution formula, and the fund serves the association's stated business interest of "retention of personnel."
Burke Law's central argument was that the Holiday Fund is not an association committee because it was not created by the board. 175 East Delaware Place operates 12 committees and subcommittees. With the exception of the Executive Committee required by the Declaration, none of them are formally created or populated by the board — they were formed unilaterally by the board president, acting outside his authority. Applied consistently, Stevens' own logic would mean that most of the building's committees are not association committees either.
The same board president who forms committees without board authority also endorses candidates for the board before each election. The board oversees the president. The president selects the board. And the attorney who defends all of it argues that a committee isn't legitimate because the board didn't create it.
At the February 16, 2026 board meeting, Timmerman defended the fund by stating that "every other high-rise in the city is doing something similar" and that "the attorney says it's fine." The argument that widespread industry non-compliance constitutes a legal defense did not improve upon reflection.
The fund distributes an estimated $80,000–$150,000 annually without issuing W-2s or 1099s. If treated as employer-organized compensation — which the documented structure suggests it legally is — the HOA faces potential back employer payroll taxes of approximately $7,650 per year, plus penalties and interest. Total exposure across the fund's operating history could reach $50,000–$150,000 or more.
One further detail: HOA employees receive one bonus per year through the Holiday Fund. Contracted Sudler employees receive two — also paid from association funds. The fund that the board defends as independent of the association is less generous to its own employees than Sudler is to its contracted staff. On the owners' dime.
