#59159
Jimmy-T
Keymaster

    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 have a major problem with the notion that you can arbitrarily cut a budget by 25 percent

    We all have to accept that our buildings need a certain amount to run. If you want to cut the levies, you have to cut the spending.  So where do you find the cuts?

    You can’t cut spending without cutting services or spending less on the services you have (except in discretionary areas like sinking fund contributions – and that is poor short-term thinking).

    To find out where you might cut spending, you have to know what is being spent.  Then you have to decide whether you want to cut the services or find cheaper providers (good luck with that!)

    I honestly think the best that fruitzebra can do is stand up at the AGM and ask if there are any areas where savings can be made and, if the notice of the meeting hasn’t been issued yet, propose that before next year the strata committee goes through every item of expenditure and finds potential savings for the future.

    FYI, you can ask for an agenda item to that effect to be included up until the official notice of the meeting is issued.  That’s the law.  Get an agenda item in now and ask for it to be included.

    You probably won’t be able to effect change this year unless there are significant areas of optional expenditure that are easily identifiable and which could be removed without harming the building or its residents.

    If you spot them and bring them to the other owners’ attention then you have a chance of having them knocked off the budget.

    But at this stage the strata manager is likely to resist any changes as they will then have to go away and recalculate everyone’s levies.

    One other thing, the coronavirus has had an effect on strata levies. Increasing numbers of owners – especially investors – have been having trouble paying them.

    But the strata scheme’s bills still need to be paid so this is probably the worst possible time to be asking for a levies reduction as your scheme may have lost the financial buffer it needs to ensure it can keep paying its bills at a time when its income has been reduced.

    The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.