Amanda Borton got sticker shock from the hike to her condo fees Aug. 1.
The Barrie woman’s monthly ‘common element fees’ at her Timberwalk condo townhouse are increasing to almost $566 a month from $515, and before that from $490.
And Borton, 43, says they were $360 a month when she bought on Pheasant Trail, just off Loggers Run, in 2015.
“It gets hard to have a 63 per cent increase in condo fees over seven years,” Borton told BarrieToday. “I didn’t get a 63 per cent raise in seven years, so that’s a lot of money.
“That’s why I bought this one (townhouse), because the condo fees were way less, but the house cost a little bit more. Seven years ago, this was $187,000. Pretty manageable, when you factor in a little bit of condo fees," she said.
Only the condo fees aren’t a little bit anymore.
Borton says she’s had no response to her concerns from Simcoe Condominium Corporation (SCC) 131’s board of directors, which sets the fees.
SCC’s board of directors could not be reached for comment Monday by BarrieToday.
“I’m aware they can basically do whatever they want, whenever they want, for condo fees,” said Borton, who's a manager at an emergency veterinary shelter in Newmarket, working 10- to 12-hour shifts.
Financial statements obtained by BarrieToday for SCC 131 show its total budget expenses are expected to increase by 13 per cent from 2022 until 2023, from $300,150 to $338,057. It also shows a 2022 projected surplus of $3,247 — although none for next year.
For her condo fees, Borton says she gets landscaping, snow removal, garbage and recycling pickup, and insurance. Timberwalk has an outdoor pool, gym, tennis court, and large second-floor amenity room for residents.
Developed in 1989, Timberwalk is a 54-acre forested site with a community of more than 500 residential units located in central Barrie. But Borton says some sections of Timberwalk, certain streets, are owned by different corporations.
Borton says she’s e-mailed everyone she knows who is connected to Timberwalk-SCC 131, property manager Crossbridge Condominium Services, the Better Business Bureau, even the City of Barrie.
“I’m double charged for some of the services — garbage pickup, for example — since I’m also paying property taxes,” she said. “I understand property taxes, I’ve owned a house before. I get it. Even if you don’t have kids, you pay into the school system. That’s just the way it goes.
“But then to have to pay a private company to come and pick up my garbage and recycling… I still have to take it to the top of the hill anyways. What’s the difference?"
Paying for garbage and recycling pickup through their condo fees, and through property taxes, is a common complaint from Barrie condo owners.
Borton says she should have seen the high condo fees coming.
“Six weeks after I moved in, they replaced our roofs. And I knew they were doing that… I had a roof done on my previous house. I know it’s like $7,000,” she said. “It’s a lot of money. To come up with that in one shot is hard for some people, so I was happy to have that done and now I don’t have to worry about it.
“And then the condo fees went up $60 a month, to $420, within like six months of me moving here,” Borton added. “So I thought, ‘Oh boy, what am I getting myself into’. In hindsight, getting a condo as opposed to a freehold (house)… I probably wouldn’t have done that again.”
Borton says she’s not asking for that much now.
“Just some acknowledgment and a little bit more bang for my buck,” she said of her condo fees. “Kind of a freeze, maybe, more justification as to why they keep going up.”
