A Wyndham Vale woman who owns two units is furious that she is
being charged commercial fire services levy rates, increasing her bill
by close to $700.
Jenny Guglielmino has received a rates bill from Wyndham council
informing her that her contribution to the fire services levy was $444
per unit.
Under the previous system, in which property owners paid the levy
as part of their insurance rather than through their council, Mrs
Guglielmino paid $195 in total. The council said the $693 increase was
because state government guidelines required it to charge commercial
levy rates for each unit.
As reported by the Weekly,
the commercial rate in CFA areas is 109.2 cents per $1000 of capital
improved value, compared to a residential rate of 11.5 cents.
Mrs Guglielmino and her husband bought the units “in an attempt at
self-funded retirement”. She said they would now have to find extra
money to pay the fire levy as they were unsure if they would be able to
recoup the extra expense from their tenants, who were on pensions.
Altona Labor MP Jill Hennessy said she had been contacted by many
unit owners who were being charged residential council rates but
commercial fire services levy rates.
“The commercial rate for the [fire services levy] is just under 10
times higher than the residential rate. This has a dramatic overall
impact on the assessment and ought to be reversed.”
State treasurer Michael O’Brien said units on one title and run by
a single entity were treated as a commercial property under the levy
because they generated an income or were an investment.
He urged anyone who was concerned about their property being incorrectly classified to contact their council.
