The State Government’s newly announced property levy replaces the Insurance based Fire Services Levy as one of the major sources of Fire Services funding, bringing a more equitable system for Victorian property owners. VFBV looks forward to working with the State Government on aspects that affect emergency response, CFA and volunteers.
VFBV is keen to ensure the levy is sufficient to fund the fire services and that it does not inadvertently erode the state’s vital emergency services volunteer resource.
The new property levy, to be collected by local councils along with municipal rates, resolves the inequitable situation where the Fire Services Levy only applied to those who insured their property.
Broadening the tax base will finally see all residents who are the beneficiaries of the fire services contribute to their funding, which will result in an overall reduction in the individual amount paid by each property owner, as opposed to the old levy which only applied to those insuring their properties.
Other benefits of the new system include:
• The removal of the GST and Stamp Duty charged under the old insurance based Fire Services Levy.
• A more favourable treatment of farm properties & primary producers
• Multiple farm land parcels will be valued as single property, reducing the total bill
• The appointment of a monitor to supervise and report on the transition and ensure insurance companies pass on the savings to their customers
VFBV’s concerns include;
• Different rates for MFB and CFA areas which look to only fund the respective service in each area
• The need for all Victorian residents to fairly contribute to the fire protection of the State’s critical infrastructure which sits largely within the Country areas of Victoria; including all of Melbourne’s water catchments, power generators, transmission lines, communications infrastructure and food delivery networks etc.
• No concession for serving emergency service volunteers (VFBV requested this benefit for active volunteers)
• No reward for property owners who act to reduce the risk of fire
• Cost savings generated by the $1 Billion worth of volunteer contribution have not been recognised in comparison to those communities that choose a fully paid model which does not contribute to the state’s surge capacity for protracted and significant incidents such as those of Black Saturday and the recent Storm and Flooding events.
With some details of the property levy and its effects yet to be completely finalised, VFBV welcomes the new property based levy, and will continue to make representations to the State Government on behalf of volunteers.
Copies of our submissions to Government are available below.
