Northern Beaches Council will lobby the State Government to reinstate the emergency services levy (ESL) subsidy which will cause a $3 million drain in its budget.
The ESL is paid by councils and insurance companies to support emergency services in New South Wales – Fire and Rescue, State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service.
The rise in the ESL through a 19.5 per cent increase, and the removal of the subsidy paid by the NSW Government to offset levy increases, would result in a $3 million spike, a 50 per cent increase, in costs for the 2023 to 2024 financial year.
The government has paid an emergency services levy subsidy to councils since 2019. This was to cover the large increase in the ESL due to bushfires and floods, along with funding reforms to workers’ compensation for firefighters with work-related cancers.
In the 2023 to 2024 financial year, the council’s levy will increase by $3.1 million, which consists of a $1.5 million increase in the levy to a total of $9.3 million, and an additional $1.6 million through the removal of the levy subsidy.
All NSW Councils fund 11.7 per cent of the costs of emergency services. Unlike the insurance industry, councils are not permitted to pass this levy onto our customers through rate notices.