Jimmy wrote:
Fruitzebra doesn’t need to raise an item on the agenda – it’s already there, in the discussion about and approval (or otherwise) of the budget.
What they really need to do is examine the budget in detail before the meeting and then propose amendments at the meeting, as they are perfectly entitled to do.
True, the item is on the agenda and a discussion can be had if someone speaks up at the AGM. However, in my experience, owners who may agree with the fundamental point of a lower levy that fruitzebra makes, are unlikely to support it at an AGM without having enough time to consider it before the AGM. Fence sitters will most likely be swayed by the Exec C’tee. Also promoting a lower levy may be met with resistance by the exec c’tee to the extent that not only, as Jimmy writes
My experience of committees is that they are more likely to batten down the hatches and justify their desisions than undertake a review of their plans at this late stage
but they could scare owners into falsely concluding that future capital works will be in jeopardy if the funds are not in the kitty, even if they will not be used for a while.