Local councils forced to front $77 million emergency services levy
Image: LGNSW President Cr Darriea Turley. Photo: Facebook/LGNSW.
By LAUREN FROST
The decision to increase the Emergency Services Levy (ESL) could have Councils scrounging for funds. The NSW Labor Government has decided to cease the ESL subsidy, leaving councils to front the cost of total of $77 million in unforeseen emergency services cost.
The ESL is imposed on councils and the insurance industry as a means to fund emergency services in NSW. 11.7% of the ESL is paid for by councils with another 14.6% paid by the state government and the remainder paid as part of insurance premiums.
However, for the past several years local councils’ portion of the ESL has been subsidised.
In 2019, following an 18.5% increase in funding to Fire and Rescue NSW and a 73% increase to the State Emergency Service, council backlash led to the former Berejiklian Government announcing a “one-year reprieve” for councils regarding the ESL.
Although this reprieve was intended to last a year, it has been ongoing. Now, local councils are about to suffer the pressures of the levy once again.
Local Government NSW weighs in
Local Government NSW (LGNSW), the Councils’ peak body, has said that the ramifications of this decision could be catastrophic for councils, however, a spokesperson for the NSW Government insists that the ongoing ESL top-up from the State Government was “never guaranteed”.
“As the payments to cap ESL contributions at 2019/20 levels was ad-hoc and not budgeted for, ideally, local governments will have been budgeting for the full emergency services levy, including any increases, since 2019-20,” the spokesperson said.
“Our emergency services agencies have long been funded through this cost sharing arrangement – local government contributions to the cost of emergency services date back to the 1800s.”
“The contributions made by local councils to emergency services are determined through legislative requirements. These legislative requirements have not changed,” the NSW Government spokesperson continued.
“This increase was approved by the former government and the Government did not have the time to engage with the process without jeopardising the funding arrangements for emergency services.”
Newly elected NSW Government has kicked off its first term in the worst possible way by sending NSW council budgets into meltdown, forcing them to shed jobs, close services & scrap infrastructure plans, by increasing the Emergency Service Levy.
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— Local Government NSW (@LGNSW) May 2, 2023