This question from an ACT lot owner about whether it is usual for an owners corporation to pay for Foxtel subscriptions has been answered by Jan Browne, Whittles Strata Partners.
Question: What can an owners corporation raise funds for? Our budget currently includes Foxtel subscriptions which I don’t view as part of the maintenance requirements for the building.
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I was wondering if you are able to please clarify what an owners corporation can raise funds for?
My reason for asking is that our budget currently includes Foxtel subscriptions which I don’t view as part of the maintenance requirements for the building.
We have had a vote, and more than 50% of owners agreed to keep Foxtel. I personally view it as an unnecessary expense. Our complex is in the ACT.
Answer: It is not typical for a units plan to pay for such services that appear to be an individual owners responsibility.
Without knowing the history of the plan and any resolutions passed at previous meetings we would comment that it would not be usual for the Owners Corporation to pay for Foxtel Subscription as not all units would benefit, nor is it a common property expense.
It is not typical for a units plan to pay for such services that appear to be an individual owners responsibility.
Have a question or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.
This post appears in Strata News #302.
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Jan Browne
Whittles Strata Partners
P: 02 6132 4450
E: [email protected]
This article is not intended to be personal advice and you should not rely on it as a substitute for any form of advice.
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Hi – as the former Foxtel Strata Manager I can tell you that many commercial or business accounts that were arranged for short term letting have migrated into the body corp/owners corp name for a variety of reasons. It may be because the on-site manager, who originally managed the account, has either left the premises or due to less units in the letting pool it is no longer viable. The building probably does not have capability to deliver a full signal to each unit so the account was kept alive to supply the service. It should not be this way and the OC should immediately look at cancelling the account and have a Satelltie Stacker ($300) installed to deliver the signal to each unit or tell everyone to stream the content (if NBN has been provided).