Hatcc by Laws Revision 5 (By-Law Committee Constituted by The Board)
Hatcc by Laws Revision 5 (By-Law Committee Constituted by The Board)
Hatcc by Laws Revision 5 (By-Law Committee Constituted by The Board)
HATCC By Laws
REVISION 5
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Start Page
1. By Law- I-General
2 By Law II –Membership
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HINDU AMERICAN TEMPLE AND CULTURAL CENTER, INCORPORATED
BY LAW – I
GENERAL
1.1 The Title of the Corporation is Hindu American Temple and Cultural Center, Inc.
(Hereinafter referred to as HATCC).
1.2 The Corporate address is 31 Wooleytown Road, Morganville, NJ 07751. The corporation has
been granted a non-profit tax exemption status with a tax ID of 22-2897340.
1.3 The Rules and Regulations as stipulated in these By Laws and the Certificate of Incorporation
shall govern the administration of HATCC as per NJ Act Title 15A.
1.5 “The Board is authorized to implement changes to the By Laws as necessary to make operations
more efficient including steps to control the financial viability of the operations. These changes
will be adopted with a 2/3 rd majority of the attending Board members approving it”
1.7 Category 1 refers to Benefactors, Category 2 refers to Patron/Grand Patron/ and Category 3
refers to Life Members.
BY LAW – II
MEMBERSHIP
2.1 Any individual, who believes and follows the Hindu religion, Hindu culture and its philosophy
and interested in the activities of HATCC as specified in the Articles of Incorporation, and over
the age of eighteen and legal resident of the United States of America, or Citizen of any
Sovereign State is eligible to become a Member. The individual should submit an application
for Membership in a prescribed Membership Application Form for formal Approval and pay the
Membership Dues as stipulated in these By Laws.
.
2.2 There shall be four types of Membership defined by the amount of money paid as shown below.
Corporate/ Life Member
Patron Member
Grand Patron Member
Benefactor Member
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A person who contributes between $1,000 and less than $ 5,000 to HATCC towards
Membership Dues and meets the requirements of Article 2.1 shall be eligible to become
a Corporate/ Member for Life.
2.2.2 Patron
Any person who contributes between $5,000 and less than $ 10,000 to HATCC towards
Membership Dues, and meets the requirements of Article 2.1 shall be eligible to
become a Patron Member for Life
2.2.4 Benefactor
Any person who contributes $50,000 or over to HATCC towards Membership Dues,
and meets the requirements of Article 2.1 shall be eligible to become a Benefactor
Member for Life.
The Membership Dues for Corporate/Life member shall be made either in lump sum or
by easy installments within 2 years. For the other categories, the membership fees can
be paid over three years.
2.3 The annual certified list (membership dues will be verified by the Treasurer and Secretary from
the receipt books prior to the certification) of the Members in each category shall be compiled
and published in English Alphabetical order by the Board of Trustees by August 1 of each year.
This will be posted on the temple notice board signed by the Secretary and Chairman of the
HATCC Board.
2.4 The Members shall follow the Articles of these By Laws in the performance of all HATCC
activities and shall work towards the achievement of HATCC goals. The Members shall elect
the trustees (individually a “Trustee” and collectively the “Trustees”) of the Corporation,
Members shall have the voting rights for such matters that occurs from time to time during the
General Body Meeting.
2.5 Member (s) of HATCC who do not accept the HATCC principles and By Laws and who work
against the interest of HATCC may be removed after giving 30 days Show Cause Notice, and
with 2/3 of the HATCC Board Members present.
2.6 Members of any category shall be eligible to upgrade their membership by (a) paying additional
dues for upgrade of their category, and (b) completing a prescribed application form, for the
appropriate new Membership category. They can vote in their category if such requirements are
met by May 1 of the election year.
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BY LAW - III
3.1 The annual General Body Meeting will be held once in two years at a place and time designated
by the Board of Trustees.
3.1.1 The President hereinafter referred as Chairman of HATCC shall preside over the
General Body Meeting to conduct HATCC business. In his absence, the Vice-
President hereinafter called as Vice Chairman shall preside over the General Body
Meeting.
3.2 The General Body Meeting shall be convened to consider the following business:
Chairman’s Report.
Treasurer’s Report.
Secretary’s report on activities of the temple
All the above reports shall be adopted and voted for approval.
3.3 The record date of membership eligible to vote shall be May 1 of the election year
3.4 A minimum of 30 members shall be required for a quorum to conduct the general body meeting.
If the required quorum is not present, the Chairman or the Presiding Officer at the meeting shall
adjourn the meeting and reschedule it for a later date not exceeding two months from the initial
date.
3.5 Any amendments to the By Laws or any other matter can be proposed by any member by
submitting the same in writing to the HATCC Board 15 days prior to the General Body meeting
which are within the rights to vote by the Members. The submitted amendments if any will be
reviewed by the officers of the board to verify the conformance to the Charter of HATCC and
the Secretary will then present the matter at the general body meeting for discussions. A
resolution on the matter will be discussed and voted. The resolution shall be passed if 2/3 of the
members present vote in favor of it. However, an urgent matter other than amendments to the
By Law can be raised at the General Body meeting with the permission of the Chairman or the
Presiding officer at the meeting.
BY LAW-IV
ELECTION/SELECTION PROCESS
The committee, to conduct the election for voting the Board of Trustees into office, shall be members of
the General Body of HATCC. The Election committee shall be constituted by the sitting Board at least
eight (8) weeks prior to election date. This committee will be called the Election Committee. This
committee shall consist of at least three (3) and no more than five (5) members in good standing of
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HATCC. The Board of Trustees and Committee Chairpersons shall not be members of the Election
Committee. The election committee shall have the following responsibilities:
Publish and implement criteria for nomination/election of the Board of Trustees, identify a
schedule and the process for use in the elections.
Receive nominations, and after scrutiny for the eligibility conduct elections, and announce
the election results.
The election for Trustees shall be conducted by mail (postal ballots) Ballots through sealed
envelopes once every two years. The Ballots with Instructions shall be sent to the eligible HATCC
Members as determined in Articles under By Laws 3.3 at least three weeks prior to the deadline
date for the election as specified by the election committee. The Ballots shall be returned in sealed
envelope to the Election Committee by regular US Mail to reach the Election Committee (post
marked) at least three days before the deadline date specified for the election. The members shall
elect trustees only from their respective category. The category 1 consists of Benefactors, the
category 2 consists of the Patrons and Grand Patrons and the category 3 consists of the Life
members.
Out of the total number of trustees, 35% of the trustees can be selected from Categories 1, 2 and 3.
The Trustees proposed for the selection will be reviewed by a Board Appointed Nominating
Committee. The Chairman of the Board Will Chair the Nomination Committee. Any nominated
member cannot be part of the Nominating Committee. After the Nominating Committee’s review,
the Chairman of the Nominating Committee will provide their recommendations to the Board and
the Board of Trustees will approve the selected Trustees with simple majority.
.
The Board of Trustees shall consist of 65% Elected Trustees consisting of 6% from
Category 1, 19% from Category 2 and 40% from Category 3. Balance 35% of the Trustees
will be Selected consisting of 6% from Category 1, 11% from Category 2 and 18% from
category 3.
The Board shall follow a set of criteria to select Trustees. These criteria are:
They are members in good standing of HATCC for over three years from the date of
selection. They are highly respected in the community/society for their wisdom, maturity
and dealing with public issues
Well experienced in temple and/or non-profit type organization by their contributions to
such organizations
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4.5 Election/Selection
The two-year election/selection cycle will start from the election conducted in the year 2020.
In the year 2020 the 9 (nine) outgoing trustees will be elected/selected.
In the year 2022, the rest of the 7 (seven) trustees will be elected/selected.
In the year 2024, 6 (six) of the 9 (nine) trustees elected/selected in the year 2020 will
volunteer to retire or conduct a lottery to pick the 6 (six) trustees for election/selection.
In the year 2026, 3 (three) remaining trustees elected/selected in the year 2020, and 2 (two)
trustees elected/selected in the year 2022 will volunteer to retire or picked by lottery for
election/selection.
In the year 2028, 5 (five) remaining trustees elected/selected in the year 2022 will be
elected/selected.
In the year 2030 the 6 (six) trustees elected/selected in the year 2024 will be elected/selected.
In subsequent two-year cycle the election/selection process will continue with trustees
completing their 6 (six) year terms.
In all the election/selection process the trustees will be elected/selected from the
corresponding categories as provided in the By Laws sections 4.3 and 4.4.
Each eligible Member and his/her spouse shall have one vote each for the election of the
Trustees.
BY LAW V
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
5.1 OVERVIEW
5.1.1 The affairs of HATCC shall be managed and administered by the Board of Trustees
who shall be the policy making body to govern the affairs of HATCC. The Board of
Trustees is responsible and shall provide oversight of the corporation.
5.1.2 The Board of Trustees shall exercise those powers delegated to them by these By
Laws and shall protect the interests of HATCC in all affairs. They shall discharge
the duties of their position with great diligence, grace, care, and skill and with fiscal
responsibility in handling the funds of the corporation.
5.1.3 Trustees shall serve a six-year term and are eligible to serve extended terms if
elected and or selected per 4.3 and 4.4 above. However, Trustees whose names are
drawn in the lottery process during the two year election cycle may not serve their
full six year term.
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5.1.4 The Board of Trustees shall be the sole and only legitimate authority to negotiate,
and enter into agreements with Banks, Financial Institutions, or other Lending
agencies or institutions on behalf of HATCC for obtaining loans. The principal
amount of the loan, the interest, terms and amortization schedule shall be clearly
documented and approved by the Board and signed by the Chairman of HATCC.
5.1.5 The Board of Trustees with the consent of the majority of the General Body shall
have the right to postpone elections by not more than one year, for reasons of
emergency, unforeseen circumstances or operational requirements.
5.1.7 The Board shall constitute a special committee as necessary to oversee the special
projects involving major expenditures (new temple, etc.).
5.1.8 Each Trustee shall take up the responsibility for a task (head a committee)
formulated by the Board to ensure the day-to-day operation of the corporation. This
ensures involvement of all Trustees including the expected oversight of the
Corporation.
5.1.9 Trustees are not entitled to any compensation from the Corporation for their services
as trustees.
5.2.1 All Trustees shall be HATCC members in good standing for at least three years
effective January 01, 2020 to contest for the post of a Trustee in their respective
category. This article will be effective as of January 01, 2020.
5.3.1 Vacancies among HATCC’S Trustees shall be filled during the next election cycle. It
should be noted that this vacancy must be filled from the same category of
membership. A Trustee can resign at any time by giving at least thirty (30) days
written notice to the Board.
5.3.2 Any Trustee can be removed from the Board with a two-thirds majority vote of the
members of the board of trustees as previously authorized by the General Body. Cause
for removal from the Board and any committee could result from his/her working
against the charter of HATCC, engaging in a conduct that is detrimental to the
corporation, failing to attend more than 50% in a calendar year or 3 regularly
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scheduled consecutive meetings. The trustee will be provided with a written 30-day
notice with the Board approval.
5.4.1 The Board shall meet 12 times in a year. They shall meet soon after the General Body
meeting and take appropriate actions in nominating the officers of the HATCC. The
Secretary of the Board shall prepare the meeting minutes and have arrangements for
recording and taping the deliberations. The taped recordings will be deleted as soon
as the minutes is approved by the Board. The minutes shall be filed and placed safely
in an appropriate location in the temple premises.
5.4.2 A simple majority of the number of members constituting the Board shall constitute a
Quorum for the transactions of the business. (Example is 9 for a Board of 17).
BY LAW VI
6.1 The Officers of the Corporation will be made of the President hereinafter referred as
Chairman, Vice Presidents hereinafter referred as Vice Chairmen, Secretary, Joint
Secretary, Treasurer and Joint Treasurer.
Elected members of the Board shall nominate and elect from themselves the Chairman and
the other officers of the Corporation. The elected officers shall serve in their respective
positions for a period of three years. At the end of the term, the Board shall conduct
elections for the officers from amongst themselves for the next three years with the option
to be re-elected to the same position.
6.2 The Officers of the Corporation shall not receive any compensation for his/her service to
HATCC.
6.3 The specific duties and responsibilities of the officers are detailed in other sections of this
By Laws.
6.4 Any officer elected by the Board can have his/her position relinquished by the Board of
Trustees at any time with the consent of the majority of the trustees for better efficiency or
operational requirements.
BY LAW VII
7.1 Chairman
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7.2 Vice-Chairman
The Board of Trustees elects amongst themselves the Vice Chairman of the
corporation.
He/she will assist in carrying out chairman’s responsibilities.
He/she acts in the absence of the Chairman
He/she is subject to the direction of the Board and is the focal point for the
day-to-day affairs of the corporation.
He/she shall see the resolutions and directives of the Board are carried out in
the day-to-day operations with the assistance of other trustees who are
assigned their specific responsibilities.
7.3 Secretary
He/she is responsible for recording and taping the minutes of all the meetings
of the Board and the General Body meetings. He shall keep all the records in
a safe place in the temple premises.
He/she shall prepare the agenda for the meetings in consultation with the
Chairman and Vice Chairman and inform all the Trustees. He/she is
responsible to inform all the members about the General Body meeting, its
location, date and time when one is approved by the Board.
Circulate the minutes of the meetings and get it approved at a subsequent
meeting.
Present a written report of the activities of the corporation at the General
Body meeting.
In consultation with the Treasurer be responsible for update of the
membership list.
Put the latest list of members after its verification and is signed by the
Chairman and Secretary on the bulletin board every six months.
Be responsible to provide the latest list of the various categories of
membership to the Election Committee for conducting the elections.
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The duties of the Joint Secretary are identical to the Secretary. However, he is
empowered with these duties and responsibilities only in the absence of the
Secretary.
The Secretary can share his responsibility with the Joint Secretary in a formal
manner to reduce his workload.
7.5 Treasurer
The duties of the Joint Treasurer are identical to the Treasurer. However, he is
empowered with these duties and responsibilities only in the absence of the
Treasurer.
The Treasurer can share his responsibility with the Joint Treasurer in a formal
manner to reduce his workload.
BY LAW VIII
ADVISORY COMMITTEES
8.1 OVERVIEW
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Print copies of the prayers books, bhajans and other religious materials
provided by the religious committee, educational committee and with
approval of the Board.
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This committee is charged with the task of keeping the database updated
always.
The list of members in the various categories shall be maintained in
consultation with the Secretary/Treasurer
The database shall be shared with the publication committee for mailing
the flyers and other relevant materials produced by HATCC.
Develop and maintain the temple web site in an efficient manner and
ensure it is devotee friendly, temple activities and upcoming events are
well informed and conducted events are projected in the proper manner.
Streamline the temple scheduling events like priest services, hall
utilization, arranging of lectures, emergency information to devotees can
be done more efficiently with the IT tool.
Ensure the personal information collected from the devotees is well
safeguarded with access limited to identified officers
Prepare budgets for purchase of hardware required for proper
implementation of IT technology.
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Identify fire wardens for the site. Conduct routine training for the
employees.
Form a group of Security personnel and train them properly with
instructions for handling any specific events. Department of Homeland
Security can provide the guidelines.
Work closely with local police with effective communication plans.
This is high level committee consisting of senior level members from the Board of
Trustees.
Set up a systematic inventory of all costly items like gold, silver items in
the temple. The inventory includes also all moveable and immoveable
items to prepare the proper asset and liability records for the
organization.
Evaluate the capital costs for high activity items like construction of new
buildings, services, etc.
Recommend the allocation of funds for major capital projects.
Develop policy for investment of temple funds
Develop budgets for purchase of major operational equipment/services.
This is a special committee that will have at least three persons to assist
the use of audio equipment in temple functions, devotees renting the hall
for private events.
The persons of this committee are responsible for taking
photographs/video of routine and special events and giving this to the IT
committee for including in the temple web site after proper
editing/review by the Chairman.
Develop budgets for purchase of hardware
Take measures for proper storage of the costly equipment and prevent its
damage.
Take steps to store the audio and video files
BY LAW IX
ADMINSTRATIVE ISSUES
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9.1 GENERAL
Only the Chairman with the approval from the Board shall be responsible for
appointments of manager, priests, and other employees of HATCC.
The Chairman with the approval of the Board shall appoint the temple
manager.
The manager shall be responsible for the safe operation of the day-to-day
activities at the temple. He/she shall report to the Board all the activities
in a written report every month.
He/she is responsible to issue receipts for monies received at the front
desk in the proper receipt forms.
He/she shall ensure that a responsible person is always available in the
temple building, answer phone calls in a courteous manner, check the
availability of heat, light, cleanliness, etc. in the temple premises.
He/she shall be responsible for booking the priests for religious functions
conducted in devotee’s home. Record the information in a diary. Ensure
at least three priests are available in the temple during the working hours
of the temple.
For any emergency, he/she shall contact the Chairman or the Vice
Chairman or anyone else identified by the Board for such a situation.
BY LAW X
STANDING COMMITTEES
10.1 OVERVIEW
This committee nominated by the Board shall serve for a two-year term
with the option for one more term. There shall be a maximum of five
members in this committee.
They shall consist of experienced individuals from the HATCC
membership well versed in community tasks.
The Chairman of the Board shall be an ex-officio member of this
committee. The Chairman shall not participate in items that hinder
appeals and review process.
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Addendum 1: The 17 Trustees consist of 16 elected/selected Trustees and one Spiritual Guru Dr.
Srinivasa Yegnasubramanian having exhaustive religious knowledge, a Vedic Scholar and teacher for
more than 30years with various coveted titles conferred most importantly the title of Dharmatma by Sri
Sharada Peetham, Sringeri, India. Assessing the religious requirement for building and continuous
maintenance of the temple the General Body during the 2013 General Body Meeting Confirmed Dr.
Srinivasa Yegnasubramanian ’s continuous presence in the Board of Trustees as documented in the
minutes of the 2011 General Body Meeting.
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