THE Victorian government will not increase the Fire Services Property Levy for the next two years.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said the 2017/18 Fire Services Property Levy will collect the same amount as in 2016/17.
For the next two years, the existing Metropolitan Fire District Boundary will remain in place for the purpose of determining whether Metropolitan Fire Brigade or Country Fire Authority levy rates apply.
The levy includes a fixed charge as well as a variable cost that is calculated depending on the type of property you own, its capital improved value and the area in which the property is located.
The fixed charge component of the levy will grow in line with CPI, moving from $105 to $107 for residential properties, and $213 to $216 for non-residential properties, for the 2017/18 year.
“Variable rates for all land use categories will fall in 2017/18 compared to the last financial year. Furthermore, the Government will ensure that the total amount collected annually for the levy for the next two years (2017/18 and 2018/19) will not exceed the amount collected in 2016/17.
“Under the Labor Government’s reforms to Victoria’s fire services, the amount received from the Fire Services Property Levy will not change for two years, while the reforms are rolled out,” Pallas said.
The levy was introduced by the previous Napthine government in 2012 and in 2015, the Andrews government increased it because it said the rates were too low to fund fire fighters properly and this error short-changed the state fire services by $21.8 million in 2014-15 and would blow out to $63.3 million in 2015-16.
Meanwhile the NSW government has backed down from plans to reform the state’s fire services property levy.
Australian Property Journal
