Rates are at risk of being raised as Blayney Shire Council and others across the Central West remain in limbo over whether they will have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased annual costs to fund the Rural Fire Service.
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The Rural Fire Service is funded by insurers (73.7%), the NSW government (14.6%) and councils (11.7%), but in recent years the fee has ballooned due to the introduction of better workers compensation for RFS staff.
In 2019-20 and 2020-21 the state government gave a rebate to councils to defray the rise in the levy.
However there is no guarantee the payments will continue, and the state government body that distributes the rebates - the Office of Local Government - appears to be softening councils up for an announcement that the rebates are no more.
A spokesperson for the Office of Local Government told the Central Western Daily in a statement that the emergency services levy for local councils for 2021-22 are "yet to be determined".
This funding provided councils with breathing space to adjust their budgets and prepare to meet these ongoing costs.
- Office of Local Government
They said that in 2020-21 the NSW government paid $32.7 million to fully fund the increase in emergency service levies for all councils.
"This funding provided councils with breathing space to adjust their budgets and prepare to meet these ongoing costs."
The spokesperson said that the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, which pegs increases in council rates, had "adjusted how it calculates the annual rate peg to take into account the payment of the emergency services levy".
Blayney mayor Scott Ferguson said that if the rebate was to end the impact would be bad for all council areas.
"As it stands now any increases in the levy would have to be met from operational budgets which would impact on services such as road repair and maintenance," he said.
Orange mayor Reg Kidd said the state government needs "to be realistic".
Cabonne mayor Kevin Beatty praised the RFS - "they do a fantastic job" - but accused the state government of "cost shifting".
He said that if the rebate was discontinued Cabonne Council would have to find another $220,000 in the next financial year to fund the RFS, for a total contribution of $675,000.
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