Low fees
“Guaranteed, hell will freeze over before I support any new taxes.”
—Rob Ford  25 April 2013

When buyers go looking at condos, low condo fees are a big selling feature. Therefore, generally speaking, the lower the fees, the higher the selling price. This puts pressure on the builder and then the boards to keep the maintenance fees low. Downloading utility fees The builders of newly constructed condos have come up with ways to make it look like their buildings offer low fees. Downloading utility and maintenance costs unto the individual unit owners is one way they do this.

Traditionally, all utility costs were included in the common element fees. Not any more. Newer condo units have individual electricity metering.



Some low-rise developers go further by installing individual air conditioning units so the owners pay the electricity, maintenance and replacement costs for their unit's air conditioning. (They have their air conditioners sticking outside on metal brackets or taking up space on their balconies.)

In the new high-rises, there are water-flow meters in the unit's heating/air conditioning fan coil units so the residents pay for the volume of water they have flowing through their fan coils.)

The declaration usually calls for the individual owners to service and pay for repairs and replacements for their fan coil units and to clean out their dryer vents. Yet many owners will not do this so many corporations end up servicing the fan coils and cleaning out the dryer vents and adding the cost to the common element fees.

The builders of some newer mid-rise apartment buildings install rented hot water tanks in the units. The water running through these tanks supplies hot water to the unit's fan coils. The individual owners are responsible to pay their own hot water tank rental fees.

Some earlier declarations state that the owners must pay for the replacement of their unit's windows.

Resentments
Many owners resent paying their present condo fees and they sure do not want to pay for future repairs and updates.

They believe that there is room to cut operating costs and they do not want to put money in the reserve funds because many of them do not plan to be around when the repairs are required so why should they put money aside to benefit future owners?

The board needs to constantly educate the owners on how their fees are being spent, how reasonable condo fees maintain or increase property values and why raises in fees are justified.

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