Victorian Numbered Acts

WATER AMENDMENT (GOVERNANCE AND OTHER REFORMS) ACT 2012 (NO. 17 OF 2012) - SECT 40

After section 263 of the Water Act 1989 insert —

        " 263A     Liability of owners corporation or lot owners for fees for services supplied to subdivision

    (1)     An owners corporation of a subdivision to which a service of water supply or sewage disposal is supplied under this Act is liable to pay any fees imposed by an Authority under a tariff for the provision of that service being any fee imposed—

        (a)     in respect of the land affected by the owners corporation; and

        (b)     in respect of the common property, or any part of the common property, affected by the owners corporation.

    (2)     Instead of requiring an owners corporation to pay any fee imposed under a tariff referred to in subsection (1), an Authority may apportion the amount for which the owners corporation would otherwise be liable between the lots affected by it, on the basis of—

        (a)     the number of lots affected by it; or

        (b)     the lot liability of each lot affected by it—

and the owners of each lot to which an amount is apportioned are liable to pay it accordingly.

    (3)     An owners corporation may request an Authority to use lot liability when apportioning amounts under subsection (2).

    (4)     The request must—

        (a)     be in writing;

        (b)     give details of lot liability for each lot affected by the owners corporation.

    (5)     An owners corporation that makes a request under subsection (3) must give written notice to an Authority of any change in lot liability of any lot affected by it as soon as possible after the change occurs.

    (6)     If requested to do so in accordance with this section, an Authority must use the lot liability method in apportioning an amount to which an owners corporation would otherwise be liable in respect of amounts payable for the year following the year in which the request is made and each subsequent year, and may base the apportionment on information given to it by the owners corporation under this section.

    (7)     If a subdivision has more than one owners corporation and the Authority considers it impracticable to determine how much water is supplied to the land affected by each owners corporation it may—

        (a)     under subsection (1), treat one of those owners corporations as being the only owners corporation for the subdivision; and

        (b)     under subsection (2), apportion the amount for which that owners corporation would otherwise be liable between all the lots in the subdivision.

    (8)     Any fee imposed under a tariff on the owner of a lot affected by an owners corporation (other than a lot used primarily for residential purposes) must be offset against the amount for which the owners corporation is liable under subsection (1).

    (9)     Any amount for which an owner of a lot is liable under subsection (2) must be offset against the amount for which the owners corporation affecting that lot is liable under subsection (1).

    (10)     The liability imposed by subsection (1) does not relieve any other person from liability to pay the fee imposed under a tariff on, and the charges payable by, that person.

    (11)     Terms used in this section have the same meaning as in the Subdivision Act 1988 .".