Some Illawarra homeowners – especially those in the region’s northern suburbs – will be slugged hundreds of dollars more in their yearly council rates bill, new government figures reveal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The NSW Government has this week released a calculator to show how much people will pay under its new fire and emergency services levy, which will be collected through council rates and based on land value from July 1.
The levy will replace the previous system, which was a tax on insurance policies, and was touted as a fairer system that would save the average fully insured property owners about $47 a year once the levy was removed from their insurance premium.
However, for owners of properties with a high land value – the opposite will likely be true.
According to the calculator and the NSW Valuer General’s latest land assessments, the owners of some Lawrence Hargrave Drive properties at Coalcliff would be hit with a levy bill of $362.80 on top of their normal council rates.
Likewise, some ratepayers on Austinmer’s Oceana Parade would have to pay $241 for their levy, and the owners of a large development block in the fast-rising suburb of Fairy Meadow, on McGrath Street, would have to pay a whopping $581.
For these high value properties, the levy is much higher than the government’s estimated average of $185.
However, for homeowners whose land is worth the local median value (of $311,000) in the Wollongong LGA, payments will be lower than the state average, at $168.10.
In Shellharbour, people with land worth the local median land value of $278,000, will be paying $160.89 on top of their normal rates bill.
However, as in Wollongong, people with high land values will pay much more.
For instance, an owner of a 784sqm block on Shell Cove Road, Barrack Point will be slugged more than $350 for their levy.
In Kiama, where the median land value is slightly higher ($388,000) the median levy would be $184.97.
The annual levy is determined by adding $100 for residential properties to an additional amount of $21.90 per $100,000 of unimproved land value.
Pensioners may be eligible for discounts. Owners of farmland, public benefit proprieties (churches, community halls) and industrial and commercial land are charged at different rates to residential land holders.
Each year, a new levy will be calculated based on the budget for NSW Fire and Rescue, the Rural Fire Service and the State Emergency Service.
Property owners can work out their levy using a calculator at fesl.nsw.gov.au
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
