Our community has used the same Presupuestos to set fees for the last 4 years even though the amounts for some budget items have come down considerably. This means that we have been and are now paying over and above what is needed to pay the bills and fund the 5% reserve fund by 20-25% each year! Unfortunately we haven't been at the AGMs (they are held at Xmas so it is difficult to get to them) for a few years and have only just realised this. The President and most of the owners (we are a small community of 9) are very defensive about it as it is obvious they did not discuss the issue properly. Are we obliged to pay more than is needed to pay the bills + the reserve fund? We have a surplus now of nearly 100% of our actual spend. Can we base our argument for a refund on the fact that we do not have to agree to any spend that is more than 3 months worth of fees and therefore there is not point having such a large surplus.

We also have very poorly presented accounts. They don't break down income into what is paid from last year, for the current year or early for the next year, and mix up the surplus from fees with our painting fund, so it is impossible to tell actually what the status of the account is. The accounts are not read against the Presupuestos, and we have discovered this year that the accounts that were signed off do not add up. No one else seems to care - we think they are just being defensive because they failed to notice at the AGM. Do we have any legal arguments to get proper accounts presented (including can we insist on what information is presented in the accounts we get, and can we insist on the accounts being sent out a few weeks in advance of the AGM so that we can have a look at them and be ready with any relevant questions before the meeting?) Thanks for your help.

Already Tried:
We have sent an email to all the owners asking why we need such a large surplus. We still don't know what actually was discussed at the meeting (the discussion is only described as "general" - hence we think not enough attention was given to how much is actually needed), but we have had a number of reasons given, such as maintenance needs, but we know that maintenance costs are annually only 5-6% of what we have as as surplus, and are covered in the budget.