Equal vs percentage allocations
Two legal ways to split the bill, and where the choice actually comes from.
A declaration can split common expenses two ways: equal shares, where every unit pays the same amount, or percentage shares, tied to a formula like square footage or value. Both are legally valid methods, not one being a shortcut around the other. The declaration must state which formula governs, and the shares assigned across all units must add up to 100 percent.
The declaration picks the formula, not the board
Every unit has a common expense liability, its fixed share of the association's costs. State statute does not hand down a default formula. Instead it requires the declaration itself to name one, and to spell out the math behind it.
"shall allocate a fraction or percentage of undivided interests in the common elements and in the common expenses"
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. §47C-2-107, North Carolina General Assembly
Multiple states confirm the shares assigned across all units have to add up to 100 percent, rounding aside. If you total your declaration's percentages and they land at 97 or 103, that is worth flagging, not shrugging off.
Equal shares is a real method, not a lesser one
Boards sometimes assume that charging every unit the same flat amount, regardless of size, must be a simplified stand-in for "real" percentage math. It is not. Equal allocation is one of the methods statutes recognize outright, and a declaration using it does not need anything more elaborate than saying so.
"The allocation may be by percentage, fraction, formula, or any other method which indicates the relative liabilities for common expenses," and "if an equal liability for common expenses is allocated to each unit, the declaration may merely so state."
Source: O.C.G.A. §44-3-80, Georgia General Assembly
Which method your declaration uses, and whether it can be changed, varies by state and by the declaration's own amendment rules. Check your declaration's allocation section before assuming one method is more "correct" than the other.
One community can run more than one formula
A unit's common expense share does not have to match its voting weight or its ownership interest in the common elements. A declaration is free to use a different formula for each purpose.
"The items need not be allocated the same for all purposes."
Source: Minn. Stat. §515A.2-108, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota
So a condo can assess expenses by square footage while giving every unit one equal vote. That is not a drafting error. It is three separate formulas, each doing a different job, each set by the declaration.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
Your declaration says every unit pays exactly one-twentieth of common expenses, regardless of size. A new owner insists this must be illegal because it ignores square footage. What's true?
A condo's declaration gives every unit one equal vote, but assesses common expenses by square footage. A board member says this must be a drafting mistake. Is it?
Reviewing your declaration, you find the 40 units are assigned expense percentages that total 97 percent. What should this tell you?
Sources
- North Carolina General Statutes §47C-2-107, North Carolina General Assembly
- 68 Pa.C.S. §3208, Pennsylvania General Assembly (via Justia)
- O.C.G.A. §44-3-80, Georgia General Assembly (via Justia)
- Minn. Stat. §515A.2-108, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota
Assessments
Once you know which formula your declaration uses, see how that formula turns into an actual dollar figure in How assessments are calculated.
Which formula your declaration uses, whether it can differ for expenses versus voting, and how it can be amended vary by state and by your specific declaration.