Question: Without committee approval, our Strata Manager has sent out a notice of a Special General Meeting with a motion to raise a special levy of $200,000 for the sinking fund. Do they have the authority?
Our strata manager has sent out a notice of a Special General Meeting with a motion to raise a special levy of $200,000 for the sinking fund. As a member of the strata committee, I know this motion has not been discussed at any strata committee meeting and there are no emails except for the Special General Meeting notice.
At the previous meeting, there was a general discussion about a possible need to raise more money. We decided that we would discuss the matter further at the following committee meeting, yet this has not occurred.
Is this legal? Does the Strata Manager have the authority to organise this motion without committee approval?
Answer: It is unlikely that the strata manager would simply have placed the motion on the agenda without any direction
It is not illegal as owners are permitted to have motions considered. It is unlikely that the strata manager would simply have placed the motion on the agenda without any direction. It seems that the strata manager may have observed a serious lack of funds to carry out essential and urgent repairs and may have been concerned about a delay in raising funds to attend to the same.
You can ask the Chairperson to defer consideration of the motion until the relevant strata committee meeting has been held if time is not of the essence.
This post appears in the September 2022 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Leanne Habib Premium Strata E: info@premiumstrata.com.au P: 02 9281 6440