Should tree replacement be budgeted in the sinking fund or admin fund in strata schemes?

There is no definitive list classifying expenditure items into the admin or sinking fund. There is always some room for interpretation when categorising expenses to one fund or the other. Speak to a hundred body corporate managers about this, and you will probably get a hundred different answers.

Still, according to the BCCM website, money in the sinking fund can be spent on:

• big or one-off items, like painting or structural repairs to common property
• replacing major items, like common property fences or carpets
• other items that should reasonably be met from capital, like pool furniture.

Meanwhile, money from the admin fund can be spent on anything that is not required to be paid from the sinking fund, including:

• regular maintenance of the common property
• insurance charges
• administrative expenses—such as secretarial fees and postage.

So, there may need to be some consideration of what you mean by ‘replacement of trees’ – is it part of the routine maintenance of the scheme, or is it a specific project of some kind? If it is the latter, it would usually be a sinking fund expense.