This is a clear case of the strata manager pulling the wool over the owners’ eyes and calling the shots.
CONTRACT TERMINATION: Have a look at your contract to determine the exact date it terminates and whether there are conditions imposed on earlier termination.
SECRETARY: As secretary, you can call your own meeting of the owners at any time. You don’t even have to let the strata manager know. Refer to Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 . Schedule 1 Meeting procedures of owners corporation. NSW Legislation web site.
AGENDA ITEMS: If you read the meeting procedures part of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, you would find all the rules for adding items to the agenda. My understanding is that owners can add items to the agenda. Strata manager cannot tell the Secretary how to draft their motions.
BUDGET: As owners, you can vote to reject any strata manager proposed agenda item. I’ve done that. I struck out items we did not need and reduced the levies accordingly. I did it during the meeting. Strata managers don’t like me because I am not their rubber stamp. What you should be doing is having a discussion about the budget, proposing your alternative and then voting. It would be preferable to let the other owners see your proposed budget beforehand. You can do that by either including it in the agenda papers or handing it to every owner personally.
Always remember that the Owners Corporation is ultimately responsible and in charge of everything. The strata manager answers to you. This point was made clear to us by an NCAT member. An owner applied for “compulsory appointment of strata manager” for a period of three months. The NCAT member mused over the idea of giving the appointment to our existing strata manager! His reasoning was that the owners corporation was ultimately responsible for the strata plan. If the plaintiff was seeking to usurp the owners corporation, then the member preferred to appoint the existing strata manager with the powers of the strata committee. In the end, the application was dismissed.