Can We Lower Condo Fees by Cutting Services?
Practical Guidance for Smarter Condominium Governance in the Sarnia and London Areas
The short answer is: Yes, in some cases.
But the better question is: should you?
At Sappihre Condominium Management, we oversee millions of dollars in annual operating budgets across Sarnia, London and other surrounding areas. We regularly guide boards through cost-control discussions, and service reduction is one of the most common topics that arises during fee-pressure conversations.
The key is understanding what can be adjusted and what should never be compromised.
First: You Cannot Cut Essential Services
Under the Ontario Condominium Act, condo boards have a legal duty to maintain and repair the common elements.
This means you cannot eliminate:
Required building maintenance
Structural repairs
Safety-related services
Insurance coverage
Reserve fund contributions
Reducing these items to artificially lower condo fees exposes the corporation and the board to legal and financial risk.
Essential services are not optional line items, but beyond those essentials, there is flexibility.
What Services Can Be Reduced?
Most cost-cutting conversations begin in predictable categories (of course, depending on the style of condominium you live in).
1. Landscaping & Grounds Contracts
This is often the first are reviewed.
Boards may:
Reduce weed maintenance
Lower lawn cutting frequency
Cut down on decorative enhancements
There’s nothing specifically wrong with this. It simply reflects the aesthetic standard the board chooses to maintain.
The strategic question becomes:
Do owners prioritize curb appeal, or are they comfortable with a more basic presentation?
2. General Maintenance Strategy
Do you:
Address small repairs immediately?
Or defer non-urgent fixes to save money?
Deferring minor repairs may reduce short-term spending, but deferred maintenance often increases long-term costs.
Replacing a front step with a crack today may cost $250.
Ignoring it could result in a trip and fall accident and having large legal bills later.
Lower fees today can mean higher capital pressure tomorrow.
3. Discretionary or “Quality of Life” Services
Some condominiums include enhanced services such as:
Increased cleaning frequency
Amenity upgrades
Security patrols
Decorative lighting
Seasonal enhancements
Reducing these services can lower operating expenses, but it changes the resident experience.
Again, it comes down to:
What type of condominium do you want to operate?
The Real Risk:
Service reductions become risky when they are driven by politics rather than planning.
If service cuts are paired with:
Underfunded reserves
No operating contingency
Deferred capital work
Flat fees during inflation
You increase the likelihood of:
Large future fee increases
Special assessments
Owner dissatisfaction
Ironically, cutting services to avoid short-term pushback often creates larger backlash later.
The Healthiest Financial Approach
In our experience working with boards across Southwestern Ontario, financially stable condos typically:
Maintain essential services
Review vendor contracts for efficiency, not elimination
Increase fees modestly each year
Keep reserve funding aligned with the Reserve Fund Study
Maintain a small operating contingency (1-3% of total budget)
Rather than asking:
“How do we lower fees?”
A more productive question is:
“How do we optimize value per dollar spent?”
Efficiency and elimination are not the same thing.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Cutting Condo Services
Q: Can condo boards legally reduce services to lower fees?
Yes, provided reductions do not interfere with mandatory maintenance, safety obligations, insurance requirements, or reserve fund contributions.
Q: Will cutting landscaping significantly reduce condo fees?
Usually only marginally. The amount that you would think it could decrease is usually much smaller than you would want it to decrease. For example, most contracts are for grass cutting once per week and then some small upgrades. Really, when you get thinking about it, you’re not going to eliminate the grass cutting, but likely just the optional upgrades.
Q: Is leaving maintenance items for some time okay if you’re trying to save cash?
Short-term, possibly. Long-term, deferring maintenance is a great way to increase overall repair costs and capital strain.
Q: Do lower condo fees increase property value?
Lower condo fees increase the loan value someone can get on a property from the bank, which could indirectly increase property value. But, if the lower condo fees are due to bad reserve funding, low financial stability, and poor building condition, then no.
Wanting to learn more about condo fees? Here are some other helpful articles: