The recent NSW Budget flagged a switch away from an insurance-based levy to help fund fire and emergency services.
The Budget papers suggested a move to a property-based levy.
Given the number of ‘exclusions’ from an insurance-based levy based on people choosing not to insure, the Property Council of Australia has always given in principle support to reform of the levy.
However, it needs to capture several key issues:
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any levy needs to be truly broad-based, and this includes:
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both residential and non-residential property
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all immobile and mobile property (that is, all vehicles), as cars and heavy vehicles rely on fire and emergency services too
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it needs to be apportioned according to risk, recognising commercial property (including office, retail and industrial) invest heavily in fire mitigation and suppression systems
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current contributions for our members should not increase in real terms, given a truly broad-based levy would ‘ease the burden’
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it should be calculated on unimproved land values, like land tax and council rates
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levies should be able to be passed onto tenants
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growth in contributions should be limited to CPI and not fuelled by ‘windfall gains’ achieved via land valuation rises.
It is expected that a discussion paper outlining options for reform will be released later this month by the NSW Government.
The Property Council (and our allies at the Shopping Centre Council of Australia) has already begun meeting key government ministers and offices to outline our approach.
