We too use a budget at the beginning of the year that is voted on by the membership. Our executive DOES NOT have the authority to vote on any expenditure over two hundred dollars. Our group would lynch our board if we spent that kind of money without a formal vote. Just a note on items that we vote on the Executive Board refrains from voting (unless there is a tie). I myself would be very upset with any PTO/PTA board that would spend the kind of money your talking about without approval...too much power.
Did your membership approve a budget at the beginning of the school year? I would think that is when the money should have been stated where it was going to be used. In our PTA, anything over 50.00 has to be approved by our membership.
Please help!! I need to know how other PTO's are run. Do you have the parent's vote on $$ that is outgoing? (ex. $20 Walmart gift certificates for 75 staff members) or do you just have your board (pres, vp, sec, trs) vote??