Legislated Provisions for User Fees

STRATA PROPERTY SBC CHAP. 43
Division 4 – Special Levies and User Fees

110 A strata corporation must not impose user fees for the use of common property or common assets by owners, tenants or occupants, or their visitors, other than as set out in the regulations.

Strata Property Regulation, B.C. Reg. 43/2000 [am. B.C. Reg. 36/2018.]  Part 6 – Finances - User fees for the use of common property or common assets

6.9 For the purposes of section 110 of the Act, a strata corporation may impose user fees for the use of common property or common assets only if all of the following requirements are met:
(a) the amount of the fee is reasonable;

(b) the fee is set out (i) in a bylaw, or (ii) in a rule and the rule has been ratified under section 125 (6) of the Act.

A user fee imposed by a strata corporation may be a fixed amount or an amount determined on a reasonable basis, including, but not limited to, the following:

(a)  the user's rate of consumption; (b) the recovery of operating or maintenance costs by the strata corporation; (c) the number of users; (d) the duration of use.

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Unit entitlement calculations and strata fees rely on the shared use and benefit of common property in accordance with the registered strata plan. From what I can see this fundamental fact forms the guiding basis for all the related terms and conditions in BC's Strata Property Act and Regulation.

If the original shared use and landscaped appearance of the common property as shown on the strata plan was changed to extra decks and exclusive use approved by 75% of owners - or granted at all - provisions are made in the strata legislation to adopt reasonable user fees to mitigate unfair allocation of funds and loss of use and enjoyment by other owners over the years.

In this regard, I have compared rental rates for everything from pasture, to storage, to parking. I see no reason that user fee formulas for exclusive use of the common property could not be based on the dimensions of a strata lot's exclusive use, similar to the calculations for unit entitlement and strata fees which are already set out in the legislation based on the dimensions of floor space in a strata lot's interior.

It sounds as easy as 1 - 2 - 3

• Vote on a user fee rule with a reasonable formula
• Ratify the rule to impose the user fees
• Once implemented, amend the Bylaws

Given this strata's history of unfair diversion of funds, I think council should have allowed owners to vote on a bylaw to implement user fees, before restricting the size of a woman's quiet protective dog.

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