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[maryjane]

We have recently changed strata managers and a mistake by the incoming manager has resulted in incorrect levy notices being issued for the March quarter.

At the most recent AGM last November we rejected a 5% increase in levies for the Capital Works Fund however a 3% increase was agreed to.  This amendment was duly noted in the minutes of the AGM.

The incoming manager advises he received information from the previous strata managers indicating a 5% increase for CWF.  I was informed that he did not have a copy of the minutes from the November AGM which to me seems unacceptable.

It is not a large amount in terms of the quarterly levies – it is approximately an extra $10 -$18 per quarter per unit.  I have asked for this to be rectified and a credit given for each unit to appear on the second quarterly levy.  The response has been that it is not possible to do this and that the 5% will remain until the next AGM at which time we can increase or decrease levies.

I accept that it is inconvenient to reissue levy notices however I would like to see the correct increase implemented and a credit to all owners for the over-payment in March.

Please advise what is the appropriate action to be taken.

 

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[Jimmy-T]

You could call for another general meeting (tricky in these isolated times) at which the minutes would have to be presented.  Or you could just get other owners to confirm your recollection in writing and insits that, in the absence of minutes to prove otherwise, they levies be adjusted.

Consider this, if there are no minutes to say there was only a 3 per cent rise in levies, there are also no minutes to prove it was a five per cent increase.

It’s a mess but it happens when you change strata managers – what incentive does the outgoing SM have to do the right thing when they’ve already been shown the door.  Your secretary might have anticipated this and prepared his or her own version of the minutes.

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[maryjane]

Thanks for your response however there is a misunderstanding regarding documentation of the increase in levies. The increase is noted in the minutes of the AGM.  It clearly states that a 3% increase was agreed to and a 5% increase was rejected.  The problem is the strata manager is saying that he didn’t have a copy of the minutes of the AGM and instead relied on information he received directly from the outgoing strata managers.

My point is that he should have at least ensured he read the minutes of the last AGM which took place in November 2019 and not relied on whatever the outgoing managers passed to him. He officially took office in December 2019 and I would have thought it prudent to obtain a copy of the most recent AGM when you are taking on a new strata business.

I still do not understand why the mistake cannot be easily rectified and the correct levy notices issued with a credit to those owners who have paid the 5% instead of 3%.

 

 

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[Jimmy-T]

OK, so the strata manager is basing his levies calcualtion on what he was told rather than what he could have discovered if he had bothered to read the minutes?  Right?

Given that it’s almost impossible to repay cash back to owners unless there is a unanimous decision to do so, the easiest way to correct this is to absorb it over the year.

And the easiest way to do that is to revert to last year’s levies for two quarters, and then increase them in the final quarter to make up any shortfall.

Right now you should be getting bills for 103% of last year’s levies, which billed quarterly, amount to 25.75 % per quarter.  Instead you have been charged 105% of last year’s levies @ 26.25%.

If the SM issues levies notices for exactly the same amount as last year for the next quarter, that would give them time to recalculate on the basis of splitting the difference (25.875% of the previous year’s levies) for the last two levies.

This may make their brain hurt (I know it does mine) but then it’s probably preferable to the alternative, which would be having their contract terminated for not doing their job properly to begin with.

 

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[maryjane]

Thanks for your response – I will put this suggestion forward to strata committee for consideration.

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