MTD - Real Estate taxes are budgeted and paid for out of the operating account, not the capital reserve. Boards have a choice of setting their monthly maintenance to X to cover the full amount of annual R/E tax due and not voting an assessment, or they can set it to X minus 1/12th of the average abatement and then approve an assessment to cover the decrease in revenue. The net result to the shareholders is negligible over the course of 12 months. It's been my experience that almost all shareholders would rather pay less maintenance per month than reap a windfall over a short one or two month period.

But I am curious. Why do you believe the scheme I described is indicative of a badly managed building, and why do you feel that an assessment to offset the real estate tax abatement should only be used for capital projects and not factored into the operating budget?