Section 90 specifies that when costs are awarded by the Tribunal in a case where the individual lot owners had won, they should be raised by a special levy which excludes the winning owners.
So, did the Tribunal award costs and were they awarded against the owners corp? It doesn’t sound like that, according to your post. I would ask the strata manager on what basis you are being asked to raise a special levy.
Did they, perhaps, forget to ask for costs to be awarded against the miscreant owners and are now covering their backsides? All in all it seems strange and I wouldn’t be raising a special levy until they explain.
I have heard of cases where the winning parties in a dispute forgot to ask for costs and all costs were awarded against them and not the losing party.
If this is the case here, where a special levy is being raised to exclude payments by the losing parties, your strata manager has a bit of explaining to do and I would want to know why they expect to be paid for their work if they stuffed up.
90 Contributions for legal costs awarded in proceedings between owners and owners corporation
(1) This section applies to proceedings brought by one or more owners of lots against an owners corporation or by an owners corporation against one or more owners of lots (including one or more owners joined in third party proceedings).
(2) The court may order in the proceedings that any money (including costs) payable by an owners corporation under an order made in the proceedings must be paid from contributions levied only in relation to the lots and in the proportions that are specified in the order.
(3) The owners corporation must, for the purpose of paying the money ordered to be paid by it, levy contributions in accordance with the terms of the order and must pay the money out of the contributions paid in accordance with that levy.
(4) This Division (other than provisions relating to the amount of contributions) applies to and in respect of contributions levied under this section in the same way as it applies to other contributions levied under this Division.