A commercial advertisement inside an elevator car in a residential community in Beijing. Recently, a university student in Shanghai used a "universal key" purchased online to turn off over 100 elevator advertisement screens in their residential compound. The related video sparked heated discussion among netizens, bringing the issue of community public revenues back into the spotlight of public opinion. This seemingly extreme action actually touched upon a common confusion among many residents—who should own the public revenues generated from sources like elevator advertisements, public parking spaces, and venue rentals within their community? And how should these funds be used? Investigations reveal that currently, public revenues in many communities suffer from issues like being "invisible" or "unclear and unusable," highlighting a series of governance challenges that urgently need resolution.

Who manages the public revenues? "Our building's elevators have commercial advertisements year-round, public spaces have been converted into paid parking lots, and commercial activities are hosted there. Homeowners are very concerned about how much income these common areas generate and how it's used," said Ms. Qiao, a resident of a Beijing community. She noted that many owners have inquired with the property management, but the responses are often vague, such as "revenue balances expenses" or "used for community maintenance," without clear details on specific earnings or their usage.

So, who do these public revenues actually belong to? Article 282 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China stipulates that income generated by the developer, property service enterprise, or other managers from utilizing the common parts owned by the owners, after deducting reasonable costs, belongs to the owners collectively. "The 'common parts' referred to in the Civil Code are the 'public areas' of the community," pointed out Yue Shenshan, Deputy Director of Beijing Yuecheng Law Firm. He explained that the revenue generated by the owners (or their authorized property management company or other manager) from utilizing these public areas constitutes public revenue. "Common public areas generally include building lobbies, corridors, hallways, stairwells, elevator lobbies, building exteriors, roofs, public green spaces, public roads, property management rooms, refuge floors, as well as above-ground parking spaces occupying roads or other areas commonly owned by the owners," he said.

Regarding who manages these revenues, Xiong Zongpeng, Senior Partner at Beijing Dacheng Law Firm, explained that in communities where a homeowners' committee has been established, the committee represents all owners in managing the funds or delegates this responsibility to the property management company. In communities without a homeowners' committee, the property management company may manage the public revenues as stipulated in the preliminary property service contract. If the contract does not specify, then the local community neighborhood (village) committee assumes the management duties. "It's important to note that the portion belonging to the owners is the *net* revenue, after deducting reasonable costs," Yue Shenshan emphasized. He added that the managing party can deduct a proportion for management costs based on defined accounting standards. "Expenses such as advertising board leasing and maintenance fees, electricity costs, taxes, and necessary labor costs for management personnel can generally be considered reasonable costs." Yue Shenshan stressed that without the agreement of the homeowners' assembly or contractual stipulation, the property management company has no right to withhold or misappropriate these funds unilaterally.

Furthermore, owners have the right to be informed about the community's public revenues. Xiong Zongpeng noted that the property management company must not only publicize and follow decision-making procedures before undertaking revenue-generating activities but also regularly and clearly disclose revenue details during and after the operations, proactively reporting to the homeowners' assembly or committee. If owners are unable to access this information, they can legally request to review it, thereby understanding the complete picture of the public revenues. "In some older communities without property management, the neighborhood committee might act as the manager. Both the committee and property management companies, as 'managers,' share the obligation and responsibility to disclose revenues and safeguard the owners' right to information," he added.

Why is it difficult to achieve transparency for public revenues? Investigations found that in many communities, the disclosure of the generation and use of public revenues is often perfunctory or even completely absent. One commodity housing community's property management posted information about "parking space usage" and "allocation of public utility fees," but the sections for "revenue and expenditure status" and "use of maintenance funds" were left blank. When inquired about public revenues, the property management replied, "Not sure." In another commodity housing community, elevator advertisements played on a loop all day, with some residents complaining about the noise but unaware of who introduced the ads or how the revenue was distributed. The property management claimed the information "had been publicized," yet multiple owners stated they had not seen any related notices on the bulletin board or in the owners' group chat. The situation is more complex in older communities. Some, lacking a homeowners' committee, face blurred lines of responsibility for managing common areas, resulting in unclear ownership and usage of revenues, making income and expenditure statements opaque.

Guo Jia, Vice Dean of the School of Government at Beijing Normal University, believes that the completeness of the governance structure involving the homeowners' committee and property management, along with their governance capabilities, are crucial factors affecting whether the disclosure of public revenue information can be transparent and standardized. "It directly influences who manages the public revenues in the community," she said. Secondly, the absence or inadequate functioning of a homeowners' committee is another reason for the lack of transparency in public revenue information.

Investigations revealed that even in communities with established homeowners' committees, deadlocks often occur due to the large number of owners and diverse opinions. Some owners prefer direct profit-sharing, others advocate for topping up the maintenance fund, while some insist on prioritizing upgrades to community facilities. Significant disagreements make it difficult to unify a fund usage plan, which in turn delays the disclosure process, leaving the management and utilization of the funds unresolved. Additionally, committee members are often part-time volunteers lacking professional financial or legal expertise, making it challenging for them to effectively oversee and manage public revenues.

Another factor that cannot be ignored is the relatively low level of attention some owners pay to public revenues. Viewing individual amounts as "small and inconsequential," they are unwilling to invest time and effort in supervision, which, to some extent, perpetuates the problem of opacity.

How can public revenues be brought out of the shadows? In response to the challenges of managing public revenues, various regions are actively exploring solutions to "bring revenues into the sunlight" and return decision-making power to the owners. From a policy perspective, since 2025, places like Fujian, Jiangxi, Changsha, and Zhengzhou have successively introduced measures for the management of public revenues, further detailing regulations concerning ownership, fund management, disclosure of income and expenditure, usage procedures, and audit supervision, thereby filling implementation gaps and promoting more standardized and transparent management.

It is understood that governance models featuring "dedicated account management and transparent accounting" have been piloted in many communities, offering effective ideas for solving the problem of public revenues being "invisible and intangible." For instance, Hebei District in Tianjin explored a new community governance model under Party leadership called "Sunshine Property Management," which separates public revenues from the property management company's accounts by establishing an independent "Peace of Mind Account" for dedicated management. Relying on online platforms, income and expenditure details are disclosed in real-time, allowing owners to query them anytime. Decisions regarding the use of public revenues must involve owner participation, with the property company solely responsible for custodianship and services. In Fuzhou, the Vanke Kingkey Central community established specific accounting科目 for public revenue funds, implementing strict management. All income and expenditure details are continuously publicized on the community bulletin board for over a month, facilitating ongoing supervision by owners.

Returning genuine decision-making power to the owners is a vital aspect of standardizing the use of public revenues. According to Article 278 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, decisions to change the use of common parts or to utilize them for business activities must be made collectively by the owners. Yue Shenshan suggested, taking elevator advertisements as an example, that a clear process should be followed: "The homeowners' committee organizes a vote by the homeowners' assembly -> the committee signs a contract with the advertiser (or authorizes the property manager to sign) -> revenue enters the committee's account or a jointly managed account." This process clarifies responsibilities and simplifies rights protection. In communities without a homeowners' committee, the property management company should obtain consent from the legally required proportion of owners before altering the use of common areas or profiting from them, and use the public revenues according to the owners' wishes, with guidance and supervision from the community neighborhood committee (sub-district office). Simultaneously, it is advisable for such communities to require the property company to regularly publish detailed accounts of public revenues for supervision by all owners.

"Supervising community public revenues is the inherent duty of the homeowners' committee," said Shen Ke, Director of Sichuan Taiyi Law Firm. He stated that the committee should fulfill its supervisory responsibility by focusing on both contract signing and contract performance. He further pointed out that the key to supervision lies in monitoring performance: checking the book entries of public revenues; tracking the actual flow of funds; and if the contractual counterparty defaults, the committee should promptly urge the property management company to assert rights and take measures to prevent loss of public revenues. Hou Zhiyang, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Politics and Public Administration, Huaqiao University, suggested that homeowners' committees could commission third-party institutions to conduct periodic audits of public revenues and publish the results. Communities with the capacity might consider establishing a dedicated Public Revenue Supervision Committee.

"It's important to note that public revenues cannot be directly used to cover individual owners' unpaid property management fees," Yue Shenshan specifically clarified. He stated that these funds are more appropriately used for enhancing the overall quality of the community, such as renovating lobbies, increasing greenery, maintaining public facilities and equipment, etc., while ensuring transparent accounting. When community quality improves and a relationship of trust is established between owners and the property management company, the willingness of most owners to pay fees will also increase, thus creating a virtuous cycle.