I have been made aware of a criticism that our governing body has not raised community fees during the three years of my presidency and that a small number of owners think fees should be raised every year.
The exact opposite is true and necessary, and frankly I would prefer your money remain in your bank accounts!
Can I remind everyone that under Horizontal Property Law our community is legally required to maintain reserve fund of at least 5% of annual income, which in our case equates to 2,000€
The financial position when I took over the presidency in September 2014 was as follows.
| Year 2013 – 2014 | |
| Nett closing balance | €3,882.00 |
| Reserve fund | €1,883.21 |
| Total community funds | €5,762.21 |
Recognising the age of our community and the need to have an appropriate contingency fund I obtained a mandate at the 2015 AGM to increase each owner’s fees by 25€. This increased the annual income by approximately 2,000€ and that amount has been set aside to ensure we fulfil our legal obligation and develop a contingency fund.
By introducing a simplified financial overview I have also ensured that agreed improvements and maintenance items proposed by the committee or owners have been within the limits of what the community can afford. The result is that the community’s financial position has improved every year without the need to increase fees.
The present situation is as follows.
| Year 2017 – 2018 | |
| Nett closing balance | €5,019.17 |
| Reserve/contingency fund | €8,000.00 |
| Total community funds | €13,019.17 |
The projected financial overview for the coming year has been posted on the website which is as follows.
| Year 2018 – 2019 | |
| Nett closing balance | €6,000.00 |
| Reserve/contingency fund | €10,000.00 |
| Total community funds | €16,000.00 |
The proposal at the AGM will therefore again be that community fees should not be increased.