straita

Levies & Funds

Can strata levies be increased mid-year?

Short answer

Regular levies are normally set once a year at the AGM, but the owners can raise additional contributions mid-year — commonly a special levy — if unexpected costs arise. It takes a resolution of the owners corporation at a general meeting; the committee generally can’t lift levies on its own.

The annual baseline

At the AGM the owners approve estimates of income and expenditure for each fund and set the contributions to cover them. Those regular levies are then fixed for the year. The normal expectation is that a year’s levies are decided at that meeting and billed in instalments across the year.

Raising a special levy mid-year

If something unbudgeted comes up — a major repair, an insurance shortfall, a failed piece of shared plant — the owners can call a general meeting and resolve to raise a special (additional) levy to cover it. A special levy is still split between owners by unit entitlement, and each owner must be given proper notice before it’s due (at least 30 days, or at least 14 days where it’s for urgent repairs).

The committee usually can’t do it alone

Setting or increasing contributions is a decision for the owners corporation, not the committee acting on its own. So a mid-year increase almost always means convening a meeting and passing a resolution — which protects owners from having levies raised without a vote. A committee can call that meeting, but the owners make the call.

Handling a mid-year levy cleanly

A special levy done properly means the right resolution, the right per-lot split, and correctly dated notices — under time pressure, when the money is often needed fast. Straita helps a self-managed committee raise a mid-year levy the right way: it works the unit-entitlement split, generates each owner’s notice for the 30-day (or urgent 14-day) rule, and records the decision — so an unexpected cost doesn’t turn into a procedural mess.

Primary sources