Condo fees going up by 3% for 2016

Excerpt of package dated Nov 9th, 2015 received by mail on Nov 12th, 2015 (some details were redacted):

Following considerable deliberation and a thorough review of the Corporation’s past operating expenditures, along with future expected expenditures, your Board of Directors has approved the operating budget for the coming fiscal year covering the period of December 1st, 2015 to November 30th, 2016 with a 3% increase over the previous fiscal year.

The contract category for your building has increased a significant amount [redacted]. We will also be conducting a Security Audit of the building to improve areas that may require additional attention.

This year all buildings within Mississauga are faced with an additional storm-water charge. The storm-water charge has been implemented by the City of Mississauga due to our growing city with more people living here and more businesses operating here. As such, the amount of water running off hard surfaces such as roofs and parking lots is increasing. In addition. changes to our climate are bringing heavier rainfalls and rapidly melting snow. These changes result in increased amounts of storm-water entering our system than ever before causing costly wear and tear on our already aging infrastructure.

The contribution to the Corporation’s Reserve Fund, which represents more than 30% of the overall annual expenses, has increased by 3% as per the 2013 Reserve Fund Study conducted by the Corporation’s Engineers.

The realistic raise for the common expenses should be 5%. The Board has decided to transfer a significant portion from the budget surplus of the Corporation from previous years in order to maintain an adequate increase of the common expense for the next fiscal year.

A copy of the new budget and the schedule of the monthly common expenses are enclosed.

For your convenience, the Pre-Authorized Payment Plan (PAP) is offered by Larlyn Property Management Ltd. wherein funds are electronically transferred from your bank account on the first of each month. For owners presently using the Pre-Authorized Payment Plan you do not need to do anything. Your payment will be adjusted accordingly.

(A copy of the new budget and the schedule of the monthly common expenses was enclosed with the package but is not published here)