#18160
Whale
Flatchatter

    The funds that an Owners Corporation (O/C) resolves to collect by way of a Special Levy needs to be paid into its Administrative Fund, and as inequitable as it sounds in the circumstances you describe, the Act (NSW) requires that the amount of Proprietors’ contributions be calculated in proportion to the unit entitlements of their respective Lots.

    BUT… whilst I’m not aware of it being done I don’t know of any impediment, apart from obtaining agreement from a majority of Proprietors at a General Meeting, to a Special Levy being raised by contributions from a sub-set of those Proprietors in proportion to the unit entitlements of only their Lots. Others may wish to comment on that approach.

    On the subject of CCTV, our Plan installed a 4 camera system to provide surveillance of the Common Property, and of the carpark in particular around six (6) years ago, and whilst that’s been effective in detecting people dumping rubbish in the garbage area and vehicles parking inappropriately, apart from its deterrent value to people contemplating “bad-things”, those have been about the only benefits.

    If someone is acting inappropriately such as by breaking into residents’ vehicles or by leaving the fire door open as you describe, then what does your O/C expect to gain from the collection of CCTV vision to prove it? On the basis of first-hand experience I can confidently advise, not much!

    Vehicle owners will become aware of break-ins when they see the consequences, and all the CCTV will do is provide details of the precise time of the offence and, if you’re lucky, how the person/s gained access to the area. Even if a camera is close enough and the vision clear enough to identify a perpetrator, that’s of no use unless someone recognises them, and the Police aren’t interested as regrettably, vehicle break-ins are all too common-place.

    Seriously, your O/C would be better served by fitting some active security features like pneumatic closers on the fire doors and movement-activated flood-lights and strategically located flashing red and blue strobes (inside the carpark); you’d be surprised how off-putting the latter is!

    If your O/C is unconvinced, then suggest dummy CCTV cameras as an interim step; good ones are just as effective as the real thing as a deterrent, and considerably cheaper.