A Qld lot owner would like to know if they can refuse a levy increase. Todd Garsden, Hynes Legal provides the following response.
Question: Can strata lot owners refuse a levy increase proposed by new body corporate managers if we do not feel the increase is warranted?
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Can strata lot owners object to a body corporate fee increase if we do not feel the increase is warranted? Our body corporate changed body corporate managers and the new strata managers are now intending to increase the strata fees.
Answer: If an owner disputes the levies then they have rights to do so by voting against the budget and levy at the general meeting.
I think the first thing to remember is that the strata manager is not increasing their fees – the levies are proposed by the committee and approved by owners at the general meeting. The strata manager will normally provide a recommendation to the committee based on the anticipated expenditure. With increases like this, it normally indicates that the prior years were under-budgeted and now that needs to be made up for.
If an owner disputes the levies then they have rights to do so by voting against the budget and levy at the general meeting. It can then be challenged in the Commissioner’s Office but you would need to show that the budgeted expenditure is not a reasonable estimate of the costs to be incurred by the body corporate as opposed to simply arguing about them being increased.
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This post appears in Strata News #252.
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Todd Garsden
E: [email protected]
P: 07 3193 0500
W: http://www.hyneslegal.com.au
Visit our Your Strata Levies OR FactSheets: Strata Legislation QLD
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Have a question about levy increases or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.
Always interesting to read what the next excuse for being late or not paying levies is likely to be. Too many owners know too little about how levies are arrived at and education is the key.
It’s not important to time- or understanding- poor owners that the legislation states their responsibilities and duties. They need to see how it works, be involved, want something from their scheme that isn’t there already (or that is high maintenance).
Dear owner….. you are important because
> you with other owners comprise the strata company
> you contribute to the success of this scheme
> you contribute to the failure of this scheme
> you have the power to influence other owners
We’d like to work with you
Whilst what Todd is saying is likely true for an Administrative Fund budget there is an issue in relation to a Sinking Fund budget because the contributions may not bear any resemblance to the expenditure given contributions are collected to fund expected future expenditure. Just experienced a situation where owners were content with the budgeted contributions but not the expenditure which was for something not included in the 20 year forecast. If the proposed budget is varied by the maximum 10%, the regulations state that the contributions need to be adjusted likewise – to me that is an absolute nonsense!
This looks like yet another case of ‘tail wagging the dog’. The BCM is just a service provider… a very important service provider, but answerable to the committee and the owners who are the ones who make the decisions.