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We received a special levy request from Strata Manager asking for the full year insurance cost and the next two quarters of the strata management fee, and 7 days to pay. This was never brought to a meeting or in any way discussed with the owners. Is this in any way even possible? We have had an AGM 5 months ago where the regular levies were set and agreed upon, and paid for the first two quarters as normal. Suddenly Strata Manager has sent the owners an emailed Special Levy request for $1500 to pay for the Insurance for the whole year, reason given is that the Insurers have raised the cost by 25%; plus they want the next two quarters management fees, reason given that there is no more money to cover management fees. This is a small complex with only 4 lots. I am pretty worried by these requests. Any advice?
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Well, if there is no money left in the Admin fund, then I don’t think the SM works for nothing.
Set budgets are not always accurate. You have bad years and unexpected blow out costs.
Our budget fell short by some $6,000 this year and a special levy has been struck to cover the shortfall.
A prior committee of cheapskates who want budgets set at the low end can be a cause of chickens coming to roost down the road.
Instead of paying a bit more, they now have to pay a whole lot in one lump sum. And then they complain about it, of course!
It happens.
You’re not setting the budget correctly – even allowing for the increase in insurance, if things are that tight. I suggest you sit down with the manager and draw up a realistic projection of your outgoings. In this case these are not unexpected costs, they are known costs – did you budget for any unanticipated expenses?
If the insurance went up 25%, did you get other quotes?
By the way your manager sounds hopeless, hope his fees aren’t too much.