Question: I’d like to submit a motion to reduce levies by $100 per quarter. How do I word the motion so it’s not ignored?
I would like to submit a motion proposing we reduce levies by $100 per quarter from 1 December 2023. Most owners have experienced a significant rise in costs. Due to poor workmanship, court action has resulted in $300,000+ not being paid to a company. Approximately $150,000 is needed to repair the failed work, which leaves $150,000 unallocated. How do I phrase the motion so it’s not ignored or thrown out?
Answer: To present an alternative motion, you should also present an alternative budget.
It’s tricky for individual owners to make propositions like this because the levy motions should be associated with a budget. To present an alternative motion, you should also present an alternative budget. However, it will be hard for most owners to put a credible budget together without the help of the treasurer or body corporate manager. If you can do it, great. Perhaps your body corporate manager can give you some documentation on the current budget to assist, but if you can’t put an alternative budget together with the proposal, any motion you present may struggle to get traction.
That being the case, you should consider alternatives.
As a starting point, you could contact the committee or your body corporate manager to see what they think about your proposals. The situation sounds complicated, and they are probably looking at different options. It may be helpful to them to have an idea of what owners are thinking.
Perhaps you could submit a motion that doesn’t look to change the whole budget but just some aspects related to the construction works done. You ask about specific wording around this, but that is not the kind of thing that we can really advise on here – if you need help, it might be worth contacting a strata solicitor.
Otherwise, if the budget is presented to owners at the AGM and you don’t like it, you can always vote “no” to the relevant motions. If enough owners agree with you and the motions presented in the notice are defeated, owners at the meeting can vote to raise or lower the presented budget by up to ten per cent. Of course, to get an action like this through, you need other owners to agree with you, so you might have to be in touch with other owners before the AGM.
You may also consider nominating for the committee. Ultimately, it is easier to influence this type of discussion as a committee member than a regular owner. It might not change this budget, but you can influence future decision-making.
This post appears in the October 2023 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924