SOUTH Gippsland Shire Council will formally object to council collecting an increased emergency services tax on the State Government’s behalf, councillors voting unanimously on Wednesday to take that action.
Some councillors spoke out strongly on the issue, lashing the Government’s efforts to conceal the tax as a council charge, Cr Scott Rae pulling no punches.
He accused the Victorian Government of using council staff to do its dirty work.
“Call me cynical but what better way to collect a tax when you’re already unpopular and facing an electorate that’s over your misappropriation of public money,” Cr Rae said.
He noted that the new Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund charge will appear on people’s rate notices, leading them to blame council and councillors for the added expense.
“Thank you Spring Street, I look forward to the people that’ll spit on me on the street while I try to explain ‘This isn’t our tax’,” Cr Rae declared.
He stressed that he supports funding the emergency services but argued the tax is disproportionately applied.
“A broad acre grazing operation will pay more than an industrial site in metropolitan Melbourne and I can assure you that a farmer won’t be getting equitable turnout of emergency services in the case of a fire as an industrial site in metro Melbourne,” Cr Rae said.
He questioned the available exemption for emergency service volunteers on the primary place of residence, noting many family-owned farming operations have multiple turnout blocks or sites and that farmers often live in town.
Furthermore, he expressed concern about “financially motivated new recruits” to the emergency services who lack the required commitment to their roles.
Cr Rae concluded by stating his full support of Cr Nathan Hersey’s motion on the issue that called on council to write to the Premier of Victoria along with the State’s treasurer and Minister for Local Government to object to council collecting the tax.
The reasons for that motion were detailed extensively in the Sentinel-Times on Tuesday February 18, with key issues being council having to collect a tax entirely passed on to the State Government, the disproportionate burden on agricultural producers and the need for council system upgrades that would be required.
A further report will now be prepared for council, examining the challenges for South Gippsland Shire in administering the tax.
The report will also outline options to clearly inform rate payers of what is a council charge and what is a State Government charge.
Like Cr Rae, Cr Hersey spoke of the disproportionate impact on those in the agricultural sector that the rise in emergency services charges will have compared to the current Fire Services Levy.
He said that while the average increase on the Fire Services Levy across South Gippsland would be 79.32 percent, that
increase jumps to 139.24 percent for primary production land, with some increase applying to every parcel of land in the shire.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate that we be collecting this in any shape or form but if the State continues to push this onto us, at the least we need to know what the impact is to our community and how to address it,” Cr Hersey said.
Cr Sarah Gilligan said while councils have had to deal with a lot of sneaky cost shifting from higher levels of government, there is nothing sneaky about the latest move, describing it as “blatant”.
“We need to have the councils of Victoria standing up against this,” Cr Gilligan said, noting the State Government has no trouble collecting land taxes and has the appropriate systems in place.
“It seems there is only one reason and that is that we will take the flack,” she said.
