Have the strata corporation pay for your minutes

Why the strata corporation pays

Section 35 of the Strata Property Act requires the strata corporation to keep minutes of council meetings and general meetings. Preparing them is the strata corporation's job, done by volunteers on its behalf, so the cost is a common expense like insurance or landscaping. It belongs in the operating fund, which section 92 sets aside for common expenses that occur once a year or more often.

When the strata pays, the cost is shared by every owner through their strata fees, and nobody on council is left paying for the strata's records out of their own pocket.

What it costs each owner

The Standard membership is for one strata corporation: 12 meeting credits a year on the annual plan, or one council meeting a month on the monthly plan. AGM and SGM minutes, audio recordings and extra meetings are priced on the pricing page. On the annual plan the strata pays $299 instead of $348 for twelve monthly payments.

Three ways council can approve it

Section 97 allows the strata corporation to spend from the operating fund on an expense that is:

1. In the budget the owners approved at the annual general meeting, by majority vote (section 103);
2. An unapproved expenditure under section 98, which council can authorize itself, within a yearly limit; or
3. Approved by a 3/4 vote at an annual or special general meeting.

For a membership, most councils use the second way now and the first way from the next AGM on. Nobody has to wait for a general meeting to start.

Step 1: approve it now at a council meeting

Under section 98, council may pay an expense that is not in the budget out of the operating fund, as long as all such unapproved spending in the fiscal year, added together, stays under the amount set in the bylaws. If the bylaws do not set an amount, the limit is $2,000 or 5% of the year's operating fund contributions, whichever is less. For almost every strata, $299 fits well inside that, unless council has already spent close to the limit on other items outside the budget this year.

Under the Standard Bylaws, a person may spend the strata corporation's money only if council has delegated that power (bylaw 21), and council delegates spending by a resolution for a specific amount and a specific purpose (bylaw 20). The motion below does both. Check your strata's own bylaws, which may differ.

Then, at the meeting:

• Confirm that unapproved operating fund spending this fiscal year, including this amount, stays under your bylaw limit.
• Record the motion and the result of the vote in the council minutes.
• Add the strata plan number in your StrataMinutes dashboard so receipts are made out to the strata corporation (see receipts below).

Step 2: put it in the next budget

The proposed budget goes out with the notice of the annual general meeting and is approved by a majority vote at the meeting (section 103). Add a line under administration, for example:

Carry the line forward in each year's proposed budget. If a new budget is ever not approved, section 104 lets the strata corporation keep paying expenses of a type set out in the previous budget that occur once a year or more often, up to the amount in that budget, so the service does not stop while owners sort out the budget.

Timing: the AGM must be held within two months after the fiscal year ends (section 40), and its notice, with the proposed budget, must go out at least two weeks before the meeting (section 45). For a strata with a December 31 year end, the budget is drafted over the winter, so now is the time to add the line. See The Annual Budget for the rest of the budget rules.

Receipts made out to the strata corporation

Section 2 of the Strata Property Act gives every strata corporation the legal name The Owners, Strata Plan followed by its strata plan number, for example The Owners, Strata Plan VIS1234. Enter your strata plan number on your dashboard and every receipt from then on is made out in that name, with your building name if you add it, ready for the treasurer's records. A receipt is emailed after each payment.

The annual plan means one payment and one receipt a year, which most treasurers prefer.

Keep the membership with the strata

Councils change at every AGM. Sign up with an email address the strata corporation keeps, such as a council email account that is handed from one secretary to the next, rather than a council member's personal address. The membership, the past minutes and the receipts then stay with the strata when the people change.

Questions councils ask

Can council approve this without a vote of the owners?

Yes, within the section 98 limit described above. Larger amounts need a line in the budget or a 3/4 vote at a general meeting.

What if our bylaws set a different spending amount?

Then your bylaws' amount is the limit instead of $2,000 or 5%. Many stratas have replaced the Standard Bylaws, so check the current bylaws filed for your strata.

Which fund does it come from?

The operating fund. A monthly or annual service is a common expense that occurs once a year or more often (section 92). The contingency reserve fund is for expenses that occur less often than once a year.

Monthly or annual?

Annual, for most stratas: one payment, one receipt, and $299 instead of $348 a year. Both start with a free month.

We have a property manager. Who pays?

Council can ask the manager to pay it from the strata corporation's account like any other approved expense. Managers preparing minutes for several strata corporations have their own Manager plan.