I agree it is a bad idea. There have been instances in our scheme where very specific pieces of work have been done by Committee members and they have been paid for them, but these have been more in the nature of professional services and the members have invoiced for the services.
In relation to set-off of levies. An owner must pay the levies, any money they might be owed for whatever reason can’t be used to set off the amount owed. By way of example, the strata scheme might owe an owner some money for works that are the responsibility of the OC – the owner should be paid that amount separately rather than setting it off against any levies owed. Similarly, an owner can’t withhold an amount of their levy because the OC owes them money for something.
When you set the levies each year it is by reference to a budget, so set-off against levies would skew the budget.
The levies are independent of any other matter between the owner and the OC – if an owner withholds part of their levies they will be unfinancial.