The scurrying heard around Lawrence after the board of Just Food discovered that about $61,000 in state and federal payroll taxes had gone unpaid was the sound of nonprofit board members across the city checking with their executive directors and board treasurers to make sure their tax payments were up to date.

That’s a good thing.

Too often, dedicated people join nonprofit boards without fully understanding the responsibility of being a board member. They support the mission of the organization. They are flattered to be asked to serve. They may have even been recruited by someone who told them that the board would require a minimal time commitment.

When an organization has a strong and experienced executive director, board members feel comfortable letting that person handle all the organizational “details” — budgets, taxes, wages, employee policies, etc. That works unless or until something goes awry, as it apparently did at Just Food.

Then board members may be surprised to learn that the buck stops with them, not the person they hired to run the agency. The story conveyed to the Journal-World by an expert on nonprofit leadership about the board of a small charity whose board members were forced to sell their cars and take out second mortgages on their homes to pay an IRS debt is bound to get the attention of local board members.

Hopefully, the experience of Just Food and its board won’t put a damper on local residents’ willingness to serve on nonprofit boards. Committed board members obviously are essential to the operation of important local agencies. However, board members must recognize their responsibility to fully engage with the agencies they oversee. It’s also important to assemble a group of board members who provide different areas of expertise.

Not every board member needs to be a financial expert, but everyone needs to understand the organization’s basic financial dealings. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Recognize that it’s better to be an attentive member of one board than a marginal member of three or four.

Just Food is a good agency that is working through some difficult problems. It’s probably hard for those board members to see anything positive in their current situation, but one possible silver lining is the fact that their experience is serving as a reminder to other local boards of the responsibilities of their jobs.