Question: At an AGM, can you amend a motion in the meeting and then the motion be voted on and passed
At a Community Association AGM (for a community association with precincts), can you amend a motion in the meeting and then the motion be voted on and passed?
The motion was for levies, and it was amended to increase the levies by approx $100k during the meeting and then voted on.
In previous meetings, the strata managing agent has advised that a motion can not be changed in a meeting. It must be voted on as written or lost and a new motion raised at another meeting. I feel we have received very conflicting and confusing advice.
Answer: Amendments to a motion cannot be a direct negative or materially change the motion.
Persons present at a meeting can move a motion to amend a motion.
In doing so, they propose precisely how they wish to amend the original motion.
A vote is then taken on whether the amendment to the motion is made, followed by another vote on the amended version of the motion.
In other words, first, the persons present and entitled to vote will vote on whether the motion should be amended to begin with (i.e. they are simply voting on whether to amend it).
They then separately vote on whether to carry the amended version of the motion (i.e. they are now voting on the actual outcome).
However, amendments to a motion cannot be a direct negative or materially change the motion. A motion to consider one thing cannot be amended to consider something completely different. It must be similar.
For example, a motion to make a by-law about pets cannot be amended to be a motion to make a by-law about short-term letting.
In the case of voting on raising levies, it could be argued that the owners who were not present were not given sufficient notice of the proposed amount. The validity of the decision could be contested.
For example, a motion to raise a special levy of $10,000 should not be amended to be $100,000.
The reason being, owners were not given proper notice of the possibility of this decision. They may have decided not to attend a meeting or give a proxy on the basis of there being a “low” amount being raised.
Any motions to raise levies need to be carefully considered and the possibilities need to be made clear to those who are given notice of the meeting so they can assess whether they wish to participate and vote.
This post appears in Strata News #585.
Tim Sara
Strata Choice
E: tsara@stratachoice.com.au
P: 1300 322 213
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