Dear Tony: How do we get the year-end financial report from our strata corporation?
Our fiscal year ends on Oct. 31, and we normally have our general meeting in November to approve the budget for the next year. Our property manager told us with the extensions because of the emergency orders, the strata corporation has an additional 60 days to hold the annual meeting and to provide reports and information.
One of the council members has indicated the strata council is significantly over-budget for 2020, but no one will give us a copy of the financials and our meeting must be held by the end of February.
Clarence W., Victoria
In May of 2020, the provincial cabinet approved a regulation under the Strata Property Act that extends the period by when general meetings must be held by 60 days when a state of emergency is declared for the province or a region.
Even after our current state of emergency ends, this regulation will remain for any subsequent events, as it automatically comes into effect during a state of emergency.
The extension for meetings does not apply, however, to the requirement to complete and provide documents such as financial reports or other provisions of the act or regulations. Within eight weeks of the end of its fiscal year, the strata corporation must prepare a financial statement updated to the end of the fiscal year, a requirement that was not altered by the emergency order.
The financial statement for the current and previous years is a document the strata corporation must maintain, and an owner is entitled to a copy of this document. It must be provided within 14 days of the request.
The financial statement will also establish the balances for the annual tax return of each strata corporation.
With so many orders and changes to notice periods, it is easy to understand how confusion was created around this document, as it is connected to the financial reports and notices for annual general meetings. All recent changes to the legislation and emergency orders are posted to the CHOA web site under the COVID-19 banner at choa.bc.ca.
Tony Gioventu is executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association
