Emergency Services Levy

[Zippy]

Emergency levy hits struggling families
Article from: Sunday Mail (SA)
October 04, 2009 12:01am

HOUSEHOLDERS are struggling to pay Emergency Services Levy bills, which are rising at twice the rate of inflation.

Last financial year, more than 21,000 unpaid ES bills worth $4.3 million were referred to the State Government debt collection unit.

This is a significant increase on the 16,000 non-payments worth $3 million recorded four years ago.

Independent State MP John Darley says householders - particularly working families and those on low incomes - are "hurting" due to the rapidly rising bills.

Mr Darley said the annual levy, based on property values, had jumped from $50 to almost $90 for an average-priced Adelaide home since it was introduced in 1999 - a 74 per cent rise.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, inflation rose by 38 per cent over the same period.

"Property prices go up at a quicker rate then inflation and so do the ESL bills as a result," Mr Darley said.

"But bill increases should be limited to the inflation rate, otherwise they will continue to soar into the future."

The level of non-payment is also expected to increase again, as this year's levy notices are being posted to almost 500,000 homes, Mr Darley said.

"The extra money charged under the ESL is a significant amount to those on a low income who are struggling to make ends meet," Mr Darley, a former Valuer-General, said.

"And the situation is only going to get worse as these latest numbers show. If the levy was indexed to inflation, most people would be able to afford that."

Treasury coffers were bulging with $17 million of unspent levy funds in 2005 and $10 million in 2006 due to the mid-decade property boom, Mr Darley said.

"The surplus currently stands at $3 million, as far as I understand," he said.

But the State Government has rejected Mr Darley's call for changes to the levy.

Treasurer Kevin Foley's spokesman, Rik Morris, accused Mr Darley of believing "emergency services are not a priority for South Australians".

"That we are spending more on making SA a safer place to live is not something the Rann Government walks away from," Mr Morris, said.

Householders who fail to pay their ESL on time are charged a 19 per cent late fee for amounts over $20.

So is it time for this levy to become another SA Income Tax?? In the scheme of things this ESL is cheap...

[crashndash]

Emergency levy hits struggling families
Article from: Sunday Mail (SA)
October 04, 2009 12:01am



Treasury coffers were bulging with $17 million of unspent levy funds in 2005 and $10 million in 2006 due to the mid-decade property boom, Mr Darley said.

"The surplus currently stands at $3 million, as far as I understand," he said.

err....excuse me?....how do you have a fund that by all Government and Department media accounts isnt nearly enough to fund the running of the numerous services (some Emergency and some not quite so) that it does....and still there are unspent monies in it?... as the maniacal red-head would say...."please explain!!"

[Alan J]

My thoughts perzacktly crashndash!
I read somewhere that the ESL only covers about 70% of the actual spend by
CFS, SES, MFS & SLSA.  The rest supposedly coming out of general revenue.

Only explaznation I can think of is that they are talking about accountants'
buckets of money which, as we know, must be kept seperate from each other.

Also, what happens to the unspent monies? Do they get rolled back into general
revenue, same as monies in other departments must be? Or is it allowed to be
retained by SAFECOM & rolled-over into the next financial year due to being
levy money & therefore tied by law to the specific purpose it was raised?

 

[bajdas]

From my understanding, ESL is not the only tax linked to property values (I am not a home owner).

So are they wanting to change the sewerage, water & council rates that are linked to property values as well ?