#51919
Sir Humphrey
Strataguru

    Is there a govt body I can complain to?

    …OC fees being raised for a “sinking fund” (called a Maintenance Fund in Victoria) should be detailed in the OC’s Annual Budget…

    I assume that Victoria, like other jurisdictions, requires an Owners Corporation (OC) to have a Sinking Fund Plan (SFP), usually for 10 years, that anticipates major but infrequent repair and maintenance requirements and spreads the cost evenly over the years of the plan. I suspect that the OC may have had a regime change from people concerned only with keeping levies low to people who developed a SFP with a program of works and a funding plan for that program of works. A SFP avoids hitting the owners with a huge bill all in one year by spreading costs out. It would be unfair for some owners to enjoy the use of the common property facilities and low fees for years and then sell to new owners who then have to pay for the maintenance that becomes necessary the next year.

    So, I’d suggest checking whether there is a sinking fund plan that sets out anticipated levies for the fund over an extended period and the schedule of anticipated likely maintenance. It is also reasonable for a SFP to include a contingency component for items that turn out to cost more than anticipated and entirely unanticipated expenses.

    If there is a plan, then the levies might be reasonable. On the other hand, if there is no plan, then I would be wanting to know how the increased levy is justified. Presumably the last AGM approved the levy, so there must have been some sort of explanation that a majority of owners accepted as reasonable.