UPDATE: 13/4/2015 – see the end of the article.
As with many things body corporate water rates are complicated. Whether your water bill comes from the Council or the body corporate will be determined by whether or not a water meter is installed.
By contrast, your rates bill will definitely come from your local Council, but, it’s calculated in a slightly different way than other properties.
Rates
One question I see regularly is “Do I need to pay both rates and body corporate levies?” It’s an excellent question.
The answer is yes, yes you do pay both council rates and body corporate fees.
Body corporate fees are the costs of running your particular body corporate. Levies are paid to the body corporate who then use those funds to on pay the costs.
Rates are local government taxes. All dwellings and blocks of land are taxed individually.
Calculating Rates
In Queensland council rates for properties are calculated by multiplying the council designated rate times the value of the lot. The rate payable varies depending on the rate category the property falls into.
So, for instance Logan City Council base rate charge by cents in the dollar was 0.3262 (0.003262) for the “residential and other land / owner occupiers” category.
On a valuation of $215,512 the calculation would be:
$215,512 x 0.003262 = $703.00 per annum or $351.50 per half year
So, where does the valuation come from?
The valuations used for rate calculations are the annual land valuations issued by the Department of Natural Resources & Mines (DNRM).
Which is where we hit a snag for body corporates because community title schemes are issued only one land valuation and that is for the body corporate as a whole, yet each lot owner receives a rate bill.
Calculating Rates for Lots in a Community Title Scheme
The body corporate itself does not get charged rates, notwithstanding the fact the body corporate receives the only land valuation for the scheme.
The amount of rates payable by the body corporate as a whole is calculated exactly as set out above. It is not charged to the body corporate though.
Instead the Council calculate the percentage of the cost each lot owner needs to pay.
To allocate proportions of the scheme’s taxable rate Interest Schedule Lot Entitlements of the body corporate are used.
Lot Entitlements as a Way To Calculate Cost Allocations
Queensland body corporates are registered with Contribution Schedule Lot Entitlements (CSLE) and Interest Schedule Lot Entitlements (ISLE).
CSLE are used to calculate the amount each lot must contribute to the upkeep of the scheme. CSLE are required to be as close to equal as is possible without being unequitable.
By contrast ISLE can be as varied as the different lots themselves.
ISLE are used to indicate the value of the lot. If the building were to be destroyed completely, the value of any payout would be split amongst lot owners using the ISLE.
Consequently the rateable amount each lot must pay is calculated using the value of each lot as a proportion of the whole.
Body Corporates and Water Rates
If you buy a lot in a body corporate you may or may not receive a water bill.
Whether or not you receive a water bill will depend on whether or not your lot has an individual water meter.
Water meters may not be installed during construction.
For the developer a water meter is an added cost that eats into profit margins which they really like to avoid. Consequently many body corporates are registered without individual water meters.
If There Are No Individual Water Meters Installed
Ironically if there are no water meters installed then you will receive a water bill from the local Council and they will be responsible for ensuring you pay. The meter is on the body corporate common property and is read like any other meter.
The Council then splits the water usage cost amongst the lots within the body corporate and bills each separately.
To work out how much each lot owner individually needs to pay the Council uses the Contribution Lot Entitlements of the body corporate.
What that means is regardless of how much water you use, or don’t use for that matter, you will be charged a percentage of everyone’s water usage, including the common property.
With the common property usage, it doesn’t matter. You’d pay the same percentage of those costs anyway, through the body corporate levies.
But you’ll be paying a percentage of everyone else’s use. It’s great if you use a lot of water, not so much if you don’t.
Can Water Meters Be Installed?
It is certainly possible for the body corporate to install their own meters at their own cost, and many do.
The installation cost is covered by the body corporate if the scheme is a building format plan, or the lot owner if a standard format plan.
The cost can be quite prohibitive.
When Individual Meters Are Installed
Installation is only the first step. Then the meters need to be read.
Unfortunately this is where the local Council bows out. They will only read the one water meter for the building as a whole, which they continue to do, but now they bill the body corporate directly.
It is up to the body corporate to read the individual water meters.
It’s also up to the body corporate to pay the water bill to Council, raise invoices to the individual lot owners for their usage and percentage of costs and then chase those lot owners for payment.
Again this regularly recurring cost can be prohibitive.
Conclusion
Finding out your body corporate water arrangements is pretty simple: ask the body corporate manager, or if self-managed the Secretary.
I’m not altogether sure how it will help you as a lot owner, but it’s nice to understand how these things work.
UPDATE 13th April 2015
If your body corporate was registered prior to 1st January 2008 then on the Gold Coast you will be able to enter into a sub-metering agreement with the Gold Coast City Council.
Essentially the body corporate enters into an agreement to have the individual water meters read and billed by the Council. There are a number of conditions that need to be complied with, including the need for an Automatic Reading System and the replacement of the meters every eight years.
It does eliminates the need to arrange separate water meter reading and billing which may be of benefit to some schemes.
If you’re not located on the Gold Coast it’s well worth approaching your own Council. This is a touchy subject and they may have formulated their own systems for dealing with body corporate water rates.
Body corporates registered after 1st January 2008 will include individual water meters.
photo credit: Thomas Hawk via photopin cc