Question: As the new treasurer, I struggle to understand our BMG charges. No one can provide past minutes and budgets. How do I get the records?
I have recently become our body corporate committee treasurer. We have overlapping lots and deal with a building management group (BMG). I have requested a backlog of the BMG minutes because we are paying $27,000+ annually for items, and I cannot see why. The strata manager, caretaker and past treasurer don’t have the historical BMG minutes or budget, and the prior BMG chair has not been forthcoming. How can I access this information and find out what the charges are for?
Answer: Your scheme needs to take a good look at your processes, the advice you are receiving and maybe how your BMG is functioning.
It sounds more than a bit strange that there aren’t any records. At a minimum, you would think there would have to be an annual meeting of the building management group (BMG) to raise funds, otherwise, how are you establishing the amounts you are paying for?
As the BMG would be made up of other entities beyond your own, you could ask those entities for copies of their records. Hopefully, someone will give you a helping hand. Beyond that, you could arrange a search of the records of your scheme, although hopefully, if the body corporate manager says the records aren’t there, they aren’t.
Otherwise, your scheme probably needs to take a good look at your processes, the advice you are receiving and maybe how your BMG is functioning. On the basis of the information provided, it seems there is a serious malfunction in the body corporate procedures your scheme is undertaking, which will be putting owners at risk. You may not be able to change the past, but you can do things properly in the future, and this discovery may be the warning sign you have needed for a while.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924