Warning: mysql_connect() [function.mysql-connect]: Access denied for user 'ocm2inf_vincent'@'localhost' (using password: YES) in /home/urbynet/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ocm_news/ocm_news.php on line 16
Warning: mysql_select_db() expects parameter 2 to be resource, boolean given in /home/urbynet/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ocm_news/ocm_news.php on line 17
Warning: mysql_query() expects parameter 2 to be resource, boolean given in /home/urbynet/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ocm_news/ocm_news.php on line 35
Warning: mysql_num_rows() expects parameter 1 to be resource, null given in /home/urbynet/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ocm_news/ocm_news.php on line 35
The VAT was increased on the first of July. This has already affected all your bills from day to day shopping to petrol, gas and electricity. So how does this affect your income / expenses?
The VAT (IVA) of 4% that applies to basic and primary items such as: Bread, frozen dough, eggs, cheese, milk, beans, fruit, vegetables, books, magazines and newspapers remain the same. However the 7% rate has increased by 1% to 8% that includes other food stuff, soft drinks, property sales, hotel and restaurant, etc.
However the 16% rate has increased by 2% to 18% that affects most services, repairs, petrol and so on.
Apart from water and electricity, the 16% rate is what most community bills are based on. All your maintenance contracts and most products purchased by your community are affected by this increase which will of course reflect on your community expenses and finally your community fees in the coming year.
While some of us have not felt or counted the difference of this change in our daily life (maybe as yet), what’s for sure is that an increase in our community fees is the last thing that we would like to see at our next AGMs!
So can we avoid it? I personally think yes. There are plenty of ways that an active committee can do to reduce your community fees and not just by 2%. In my next few articles I will try to concentrate on giving you advice on how to reduce your community fees.
Anybody know, on average , how much a community pays to the hire the room for an AGM and would this be classed as a service or other ? Thanks
That’s an interesting question. I know that some town halls allow the residents to reserve one of their function rooms free of charge, but you will need to book in advance. Some other AGMs take place in Hotel meeting / conference rooms and the prices depend on the Hotel and the number of people attending. In El Porton de Mijas we pay about €200 for a room to fit 40 people. This includes all audio / visual equipment and tea/coffeee served at the break. We tend to use Hotel Puerta del Sol as it is the nearest to our community, but I think you should be able to get very good deals in any hotel these days.