THE new Emergency Services Volunteers Fund (ESVF) has been described as a Christmas present by the volunteer fire brigades advocacy group, but the Wangaratta-based District 23 president is still cautious with little detail announced about funding distribution to the CFA.
The tax, which will be funded by Victorian ratepayers, will bankroll the state’s emergency services capital renewal and equipment program.
The ESVF will fund up to 87.5 per cent of FRV’s budget, and up to 95 per cent of CFA’s budget.
Other emergency services on the bill include VICSES, Triple Zero Victoria, the State Control Centre, Forest Fire Management Victoria and Emergency Recovery Victoria where the ESVF will fund up to 95pc of their budgets.
Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) has been lobbying for more funding for the CFA for years and while certain perks in the new package seem attractive, VFBV District 23 president Garry Nash has trepidation in what will be revealed as the layers of wrapping are peeled away.
“We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves and we should wait to see the detail and what we’ve been able to glean is that it’s looking a lot better for CFA and there are more services involved in the fund,” he said.
“It’s a bigger tax on our community and more people are dipping into the pie.”
The golden carrot to sell the new tax is that volunteer firefighters will be exempt from paying into the ESVF, which will replace the Fire Services Property Levy (FSPL) from July 1 next year.
Mr Nash said it was unethical and immoral to tax volunteers who were the very people who were giving up their time protecting people’s livelihoods.
However, he pointed out under the new fund that many volunteers are renters and will not benefit from the exemption.
“We have suggested that a reduction in vehicle registration fees would benefit every volunteer, because most people own a car but not everyone pays rates,” he said.
Mr Nash highlighted there was a $10 million uptick in the CFA’s base budget for fleet.
“That’s a massive positive for us and that’s something we can start budgeting with and working through to replace old trucks, some of which are 30 years old,” he said.
Dozens of volunteers turned out to the truck fire on the Hume Freeway at Chiltern just before 4am last Friday and Mr Nash said most of them put in a full day of work afterwards, contributing to the economy.
“In 2020, volunteerism was worth between $1.9b-2.5b to the Victorian economy and the government has put our worth into its rhetoric, but I think this is only the beginning,” he said.
The residential ESVF tax will also rise from the current 8.7 cents per $1000 capital improved value (CIV) under the FSPL to 17.3 (cents per $1000 CIV), adding about $60 per annum on municipal rates.
Mr Nash warned people not to be misconstrued by the naming of the ‘volunteers fund', as he said the majority will be taken up with salaries and other costs.
“The VFBV will be watching the spending to make sure the majority of funds will be fit for purpose,” he said.