Spadina Towers has not had a MANDATORY Reserve Fund Budget presented to owners FOR THEIR MANDATORY APPROVAL, in several years.

At the 2014 Annual General Meeting of the Spadina Condominium Corporation, the Board advised attendees that the Reserve Fund Study, although now mandatory by law, was “not necessary” and was just “a waste of money”. The Board need be reminded, that a responsible Board will respect the professional guidance of an independent Reserve Fund Study, not demean and disrespect it.

A most troubling example of this disrespect, is the past Reserve Fund Study clearly recommending annual maintenance to the topping of the surface area of the parkade. The Board totally rejected this recommendation and has UNLAWFULLY, without a vote of unit owners, approved this CAPITAL EXPENDITURE, with a total replacement  of the topping, to be completed rather than respecting the professional guidance provided in the Reserve Fund study which recommends, ongoing annual maintenance. Any such maintenance, net of cosmetic only efforts, has not been performed in years. In other words, the recommendations of the Reserve Fund Study, have been totally rejected.

Responsible governance, of course requires the Board’s adherence to both the Bylaws, and the Condominium Property Act, whereby, address to CAPITAL EXPENDITURES, requires responsible financial budgeting and planning, reflected in a responsible Reserve Fund Budget. This Budget, of course, is subject to approval by unit owners. NO SUCH BUDGET HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO UNIT OWNERS IN A NUMBER OF YEARS, yet well over a million dollars has been spent, with no such approval.

It is clear that the Board has chosen to SIMPLY DECLARE ON THEIR OWN, to declare all RESERVE FUND EXPENDITURES to be simply maintenance (or operating expenses), and have illicitly included, numerous, CAPITAL EXPENDITURES in this category as well.

This decision was made under the falsely declared premise, that evidence of structural damage has been demonstrated. This is of course a false and misleading misrepresentation of the facts. Any claim of “structural” damage, must be supported with a formal report based upon “destructive testing and analysis” on the part of a structural engineer. To date, the Board has refused to make any such report available to residents upon their request. Unilateral approval by the Board of such major CAPITAL EXPENDITURES, is unlawful and in direct contravention of both SCC Bylaws and the Condominium Property Act.

As Spadina residents learned following the 2014 Annual General Meeting, the “voting procedure” held for “disapproval” of an Audit, was conducted in a most inappropriate and questionable manner. Residents were misled at the meeting where it was later determined that some attending owners, felt they were signing in favor, not rejection of an Audit. The Board clearly denounced any need for an audit, and in fact followed up with a post AGM lobby effort, approaching those not attending the meeting, to support rejection of an Audit. Given the conflict of interest issues relating to management (who does the monthly accounting) and a number of Board members, this is very serious issue. An after meeting tally of residents, revealed sufficient signatures did in fact provide the required support for an Audit.

A resident review of invoices subsequent to the 2014 AGM, revealed well over $30,000 in illegitimate operating expenses during the 2014 fiscal year and several months following. Relevant information regarding Reserve Fund Expenditures, was not made available. This clearly revealed the reason for such an adamant rejection of an Audit by the Board.

The Board suggested that the additional cost of an Audit at an approximate cost of $3000, was a “WASTE OF MONEY” and rejected resident support for an Audit. Without question, residents would rather contribute their $50.00 share to this $3000 Audit cost that if performed, would reveal and confirm some $30,000 plus in illegitimate expenditures and result in a refund to residents of approximately $500.

Therefore, any responsible resident should support and vote for an Audit at the coming AGM.