› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Levies and Unit Entitlements › Lowering strata levy › Current Page
As to raising the matter before the AGM in a timely manner, the horse has well and truly bolted. Certainly in the case of large stratas. The usual procedure is for either
(a) the Secretary or Managing Agent well in advance of an AGM to ask owners if they have motions to list on the AGM agenda OR
(b) as the above rarely takes place, an owner could write to the Secretary or Managing Agent well in advance of an AGM to establish the deadline for them to accept motions for consideration at an AGM and supply the motion in time
As you have 10 days before the AGM, time is a bit tight. I suggest you now write to the Managing agent/Exec Committee listing the reasons you have for a decrease in the levy, what levy you are promoting be struck and for what time frame?
Equally important, offer a solution that (a) does not bind the Exec Committee for say more than one year (this will raise the probability that your suggestion will receive support as the Exec Committee, if they agree to you, are only binding themselves at most to one year) and that (b) saves the committee “face”.
Committees will often reply that they need time to study any proposal and that your views were sent late in the day and may ignore it altogether.
Writing as a former Treasurer of a large (70 unit scheme), while I convinced the Exec Committee not to raise levies for 9 years, this took some effort on my part. I can say that the following option would have a greater chance of success ESPECIALLY coming from outside the Exec Committee.
Say you pay $2,000 p.q. being $8,000 p.a. and you think, with evidence, that $1,500 p.q or $6,000 p.a. is reasonable given your reasons. As I don’t know your strata’s levy contributions in aggregate, taking your levy situation as my focus, rather than push for say your $2,000 p.q. be replaced with $1,500 p.q, you should, when communicating with the exec committee, agent and the rest of the owners
(i) Make clear WHY $6,000 p.a is fair and reasonable;
(ii) You acknowledge this issue is being raised by you late in the day (you should have done so ahead of the agenda being issued);
(iii) While you believe your suggestion has merit, you agree not to bind the hands of the Exec Committee unnecessarily;
(iv) Push for $6,000 p.a. to be struck this year, you may couch it in the form of assistance to owners during the corona virus epidemic, making clear the $6,000will be reviewed over the coming year, well before the next AGM; and
(v) Don’t change to $1,500 p.q. Push to keep to a quarterly levy of $2,000 for each of the first three quarters with $0 being the levy for the last quarter. That will aid the Exec C;ttee in the event that they will return to the $8,000
By the time the last quarter comes around either your views would have been vindicated, in which case the 2022/23 proposed levies will reflect them OR your views will be refuted and you’ll presumably return to $2,000 p.q for each of the next 4 quarters, with the levy holiday in the last quarter of 2021/22 providing a saving to owners, albeit a one off saving.