Water Billing for Condo

Years ago, we had a national property management company charge a separate water bill to each condo unit owner. The water bill each month was split evenly based on the bill received from the utility company. Our bylaws call for an annual budget that will cover common expenses for the year that is split evenly to the unit owners. The water bills could vary by quite a lot month to month. We do not do this anymore and water is budgeted as a common expense but I am wondering if this was allowable? If allowable, would it be considered a special assessment?

I am asking about practices in the past. One water bill for entire complex was divided equally each month. Each unit owner was changed by PMC for the water usage each month. I do not think regular assessments can be variable so would it be considered a special assessment or a fine.

I for one would have to see the wording in the governing documents about (1) how the regular assessment is computed; and (2) when the board can impose a special assessment (equally divided among all owners, or divided pursuant to the fractional ownership each unit has).

I would bet the board computes the regular assessment for the coming year using the budget for the coming year as follows: Regular monthly assessment = Total Annual Expenses anticipated (including reserve contributions) * each unit's fractional share / 12

If instead the Board varied the "regular assessment" every month, then this practice has to be allowed by the Bylaws and/or Declaration.

Annual Assessments. The Board of Directors of the Association shall establish
a proposed annual budget for each fiscal year in advance of the annual meeting. This budget
shall project all common expenses for the forthcoming year required for the proper operation,
management, and maintenance of the condominium project, including a reasonable allowance
for contingencies and reserves. At least ten days prior to the annual meeting, copies of the
proposed budget shall be delivered to each member of the Association, together with the
proposed assessments against each unit. At the annual meeting, the budget shall be submitted
to the membership for approval. As approved, the budget shall constitute the basis for all
regular assessments for common expenses against unit owners. Should the Board of Directors
at any time determine, in its sole discretion, that the assessments levied are, or may prove to
be, insufficient to pay the costs of operation and management of the condominium project, the
Board of Directors shall have the authority to levy such additional assessments as may be
necessary, not to exceed a fifteen percent (15%) increase over the previous year's assessment,
without approval of the membership. Any increase in the annual assessments of greater than
fifteen percent (15 %) shall require approval of the membership

In my opinion, there's just enough wiggle room to allow the board (through the manager) to vary what I will call "the total regular assessment" every month and still be in compliance with the above. Said total regular assessment meaning the fixed, baseline amount + the share of the (inevitably varying) total COA water bill that each owner owes.

Put another way: I do not think either arguing over this, or holding a grudge over this, is worthwhile, especially since it is water under the bridge.

This approach (varying monthly assessments, depending on the overall water usage of the COA) does have the advantage of tend to prevent a shortage of funds.

There are not separate meters for each unit. Just one meter for all the units. The MC receives the bill from the City and pays it. The MC would then charge each owner the same fractional amount for water.

If these are condos, there should be a section of your CC&Rs that defines the percentage of ownership (sometimes called par value) for each unit. This is what you need to look at. The assessment for each unit is calculated by multiplying the percentage by the total budgeted amount for the year.

Condo assessments are usually spelled out precisely - you shouldn't have to make assumptions based on what your CC&Rs say about the annual budget.

However.... our bylaws address the unfairness of including variable cost utilities in our assessments. They also give the association the right to levy additional assessments for "excessive use" of these utilities. So we could actually do what your previous manager did. (FWIW, this makes me nervous, since "excessive use" is truly in the eyes of the beholder/board. If you have separate meters, then you could quantify it.)

You're going to have to comb through your CC&Rs and bylaws in their entirety, maybe multiple times, looking for something similar. (I once spent a few hours reading our CC&Rs beginning to end trying to find the language about the unfairness of including utilities in assessments, and after the third time through I was starting to think I'd dreamed the whole thing. Fortunately I decided to check the bylaws.)

So I change my original answer: this may have been OK, but you do need to have similar language in your governing docs somewhere.

The manager here appears to have billed a regular, baseline assessment, then each month, added to each unit's bill the following:

total monthly current water bill for the entire COA x the unit's percentage of ownershipI do not think this is what the previous manager did.

We currently budget for water and is just part of the regular assessment dues. When the MC and board had this policy in place, it was to protect against high water bills. The downside was that it was an accounting nightmare.

Are you able to meter each individual unit? I lived at a mobile home park that did this. People were just water wasters,
As Sheila mentioned, Yes I feel people would be more satisfied having individual meters compared to paying as a whole and having to pay for someone else's water waste.
Check with your local water department for guidance. In my situation the MHP put their meter on my house and sent the bill for usage on the following months rent bill.