Question: Are body corporate committee minutes required to include the reasoning behind budget decisions, or just the outcomes?
Our committee recently held a budget meeting, and I’ve received the minutes. As usual, they show the committee’s proposed levy recommendations for the AGM, but only as total figures with no explanation of how they were determined.
For the sinking fund motion, four members voted for and two against, but the minutes don’t record how individual committee members voted. There’s also an explanatory note that the sinking fund has a 20% increase “this financial year, as the committee believes that in the next few years the window replacement will be required.” Given that such a project would cost several million dollars, should the minutes give details as to why the committee holds that belief?
Based on much committee experience, I think the minutes are deficient in information that needs to be conveyed to members. Am I entitled to expect more?
Answer: Committees should understand that management of a scheme is usually easier if owners know what’s going on.
As per the BCCM website, bodies corporate must keep full and accurate minutes of each committee meeting: Running a committee meeting. That includes:
- date, time and place of the meeting
- names of people present and details of the capacity they attended the meeting in (e.g. a committee member or a lot owner)
- details of proxies tabled
- for motions submitted by lot owners:
- when the motion was submitted to the secretary
- the name of the person who submitted it
- if the type of motion cannot be decided by the committee, the reasons it was not decided
- details of any notice given to the submitter of the motion if the committee requires more time than the decision period to decide the motion
- for motions requesting approval to keep or bring an animal onto a lot or common property:
- when the request was made to the committee
- details of the animal in the request
- if approval was given by the committee, any conditions they placed on the approval
- for each motion voted on at the meeting:
- the wording of each motion voted on
- the results of voting, including the number of votes for and against
- details of any correspondence, reports, notices or other documents tabled
- time the meeting closed
- details of the next scheduled meeting
- secretary’s name and contact address
It looks like a fairly long list, but if you boil it down, it is saying the body corporate needs to keep minutes of the decisions made.
This is different to keeping minutes on how or why the decision was made.
There is no need to record opinions, and when it comes to recording votes, only the tally of voting is required, not details on who voted how.
Still, much as people can attempt to define it, minute taking is an art rather than a science. Committees can set a budget, but owners have to vote to approve it. If the context of that budget isn’t made clear to owners, it’s fair enough if owners vote no. The minutes are a good opportunity to add communication about issues like this, and many schemes use them to explain policies to owners, even if this is beyond the requirements. Other schemes might keep to more functional minutes but send out separate communications to keep owners informed.
In this case, you are obviously not feeling informed, so that might be something to discuss with the committee. It doesn’t have to be a hostile conversation. Just say that you would appreciate more information around the proposals. If the committee thinks the windows require major work and wants to start saving, it’s probably good planning, but there is usually some information to back it up. This could be in your sinking fund report or in some other analysis, and the committee should make it available.
For their part, committees should understand that management of a scheme is usually easier if owners know what’s going on. Committee volunteers can be time poor, but working with owners is usually more efficient than battling, and providing a steady flow of information helps with that.
This post appears in Strata News #788.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924
The committee in my complex do not hold meetings and thus there are no minutes. I am on the committee but after not been acknowledged for 9 months they started sending emails only and expect a response within a short space of time. There is no time to consider, investigate or discuss. It seems to be driven by two main parties. I have asked about meetings and minutes and was told they don’t hold meetings. As an owner what can be done about this as I feel owners are not informed as well as other committee members n a timely way about issues.
If a building managers report is tabled at a committee meeting, should it also be circulated with the minutes in its entirety? The committee has refused to allow the strata manager to upload these to the portal for owners to access.
There is no obligation for the committee to send out the report but on the other hand why wouldn’t you? Some committees may be concerned about the costs of disbursement but then you are saying here that the committee is refusing to even allow it to be posted on the portal. Committees that seek to limit this kind of basic information disclosure will reasonably find themselves questioned as owners will wonder what the secret information is that only the committee can see. Maybe there are specific circumstances as to why the report may not be presentable but if owners are asking questions about this the committee should advise. Otherwise, as an owner, you could arrange to do a search of the books and records and access the report that way. Perhaps you could ask the building manager for a copy. Maybe you could submit a committee motion or motion to the next general meeting asking that these documents be sent to owners with the minutes – or at least posted online. And, if you really want things to be different perhaps you could run for the committee at the next opportunity and start changing the way your scheme is being run.