Gerald Lynch
Already financially stretched Brimbank households will have to find extra cash this financial year to help fund the state government’s Fire Services Property Levy.
Brimbank ratepayers have been warned that they will notice a considerable increase in state government’s Fire Services Property Levy on their annual installment notice.
In a statement, Brimbank council said it is not responsible for this fee or setting the amount.
“Council is required to collect the levy on behalf of the state government and transfer it directly to the State Revenue Office to fund Fire Services,“ the statement said.
“The state government is increasing the levy by 22 percent this year. Meanwhile, the state government has capped council rates at a 2.75 percent rise, which is below inflation and, with rising prices, means councils have less money to spend on their communities.“
The levy is made up of two parts, a fixed charge of $132 (up from $125) for residential properties, and $267 (up from $254) for non-residential properties.
United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said he was sceptical of the funding being correctly allocated.
“The UFU notes that this year’s budget contains a statement in writing that 100 percent of revenue from the levy will go to supporting the state’s fire services, including vehicles and other life-saving equipment,“ he said.
“However, the UFU continues to hold concerns about the quarantining of the Fire Services Property Levy monies from consolidated revenue, and whether the Levy monies have been diverted to consolidated revenue for purposes other than fire.”
Community advocate Graeme Blore said the levy increase comes at a bad time in Brimbank.
“As we have seen with the recent Derrimut fire, where the Sunshine teleboom was in Ringwood, and they had to wait for one from Richmond to arrive, there are major concerns from a firefighting perspective,” he said.
“The CFA is still waiting for 28 of the 48 new critical heavy tankers it was promised three years ago.
“The worry is that I am skeptical of the levy money being spent where it should, or if it’s just going into general state government revenue streams.
“The precedent is set with the motorcycle safety levy. It was promised to be fixed at $50 and has been indexed to $81.40, yet Victoria’s road funding has been slashed over the last 10 years.
“That same lack of road funding is endangering our emergency services, particularly their ability to get to fires safely and efficiently.”
A state government spokesperson said all levy funding will go towards improving fire services.
“The Fire Services Property Levy was put in place to fund our life saving fires services, following a recommendation of the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission,“ the spokesperson said.
“All levy proceeds go to supporting the state’s fire services, including vital life-saving equipment, firefighters, staff, training, infrastructure and community education.
“The increase for an average household is about 70 cents a week.“
