Why you pay the same amount every month
The contribution is the annual budget divided by twelve, so winter does not bring a bill three times bigger. How the budget is built, how it is split, and where the overrun shows.
Owners ask this in every building we have seen: the electricity bill changes every month, the pool runs only in summer, so why is my contribution the same in January and in August. The short answer is that you are paying a budget, not a bill.
The budget comes first
Before the year starts, the committee approves a budget: what the building will spend on electricity, water, the lift, cleaning, the pool, the garden, insurance, small repairs and the management fee, over twelve months. The numbers come from last year’s invoices and this year’s contracts. It is one page, and every owner can read it.
Then it is split
The law apportions the common expenses among the owners by the size of each unit: a larger apartment carries a larger share of the building’s costs. That share is in your title and it does not change from month to month. Your contribution is your share of the annual budget, divided by twelve.
That is why the amount is flat. The building’s costs are seasonal; your payment is not, so nobody gets a bill three times bigger in the month the pool pump ran every day.
Where the overrun shows
A budget is a forecast, and forecasts miss. If electricity comes in higher than planned, the difference shows on the monthly statement as a shrinking balance, and the committee sees it months before it becomes a problem. It can adjust the contribution for the rest of the year, take the difference from the reserve, or accept a smaller balance and correct next year’s budget. All three are the committee’s decisions, and all three are visible.
What to ask your current manager
If nobody has ever shown you the budget your contribution is based on, ask for it. If the answer is that there is none, that is the answer to a different question, and it is a bigger one.
