#51927
Sir Humphrey
Strataguru

    I assume that Victoria, like other jurisdictions, requires an Owners Corporation (OC) to have a Sinking Fund Plan (SFP), usually for 10 years

    …that assumption is incorrect. In Victoria only a prescribed (read large) OC needs a Sinking (Maintenance) Fund. … And in Victoria, villa stratas, as described by the OP, usually have very little common property. Often just the driveway. … So why the levy hike? I think there might be a bit more to the OP’s situation?

    Where I am (ACT) in townhouses, our biggest single sinking fund item is resurfacing our roads. We have a mix of private roads and a public road through the site. When local govt. resurfaces the public road, we have had the contractor do our bits too. It is hard to predict when that will happen. Perhaps the OP’s driveway needs redoing or the OC has anticipated that it will need resurfacing some years from now? In any case, if there is a sinking (maintenance) fund for this OC, and it has a budget (whether for one year or a longer plan), that must have been agreed by a general meeting so there should be some justification given, which may or may not be a reasonable justification. I suggest the first stop for the OP is to ask when the rise in levies was approved and what documentation was presented to the general meeting that approved it.