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TASMANIA
__________
FIRE SERVICE AMENDMENT BILL 2009
__________
CONTENTS
1. Short title
2. Commencement
3. Principal Act
4. Section 74 amended (Interpretation of Part VI)
5. Section 79A repealed
6. Section 80 amended (Commission to obtain assessed annual
value of land)
7. Section 81 substituted
81. Contributions to be made by local councils
81A. Allowable rate of annual increase or decrease in
contribution
8. Section 81B amended (Commission to notify local councils of
contribution)
9. Section 81C amended (Collection by local councils of
contribution)
10. Section 82 inserted
82. 2010 transitional doubts removal
[Bill 50]-II
2
FIRE SERVICE AMENDMENT BILL 2009
(Brought in by the Minister for Police and Emergency
Management, the Honourable James Glennister Cox)
A BILL FOR
An Act to amend the Fire Service Act 1979
Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by
and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and
House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Fire Service
Amendment Act 2009.
2. Commencement
This Act commences on the day on which it
receives the Royal Assent, but if it does not
receive the Royal Assent on or before
1 September 2009 it is taken to have commenced
on that date.
3. Principal Act
In this Act, the Fire Service Act 1979* is
referred to as the Principal Act.
*No. 35 of 1979
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Fire Service Amendment Act 2009
Act No. of
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4. Section 74 amended (Interpretation of Part VI)
Section 74(1) of the Principal Act is amended by
omitting the definition of "minimum assessed
annual value" and substituting the following
definition:
"minimum assessed annual value", in
relation to any rating district land or
general land for a financial year, means
the minimum assessed annual value of
that land for that financial year as
determined by the Commission after it
has complied with section 80(1) and (3);
5. Section 79A repealed
Section 79A of the Principal Act is repealed.
6. Section 80 amended (Commission to obtain assessed
annual value of land)
Section 80 of the Principal Act is amended as
follows:
(a) by omitting from subsection (1) "15
April" and substituting "30 September";
(b) by omitting from subsection (1)(a) "in
the immediately preceding year" and
substituting "in that year";
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Fire Service Amendment Act 2009
Act No. of
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(c) by omitting from subsection (1)(b) "in
the immediately preceding year" and
substituting "in that year";
(d) by omitting from subsection (1)(c) "in
the immediately preceding year" and
substituting "in that year";
(e) by omitting from subsection (2) "15
April" and substituting "30 September";
(f) by omitting from subsection (2) "in the
immediately preceding year" and
substituting "in that year";
(g) by inserting the following subsections
after subsection (3):
(4) A local council, on or before 30
September in each year, must
(a) reconcile its own records
as to the assessed annual
values (and overall
number) of properties of
each grade in its
municipal area with the
Valuer-General's
assessment notices for the
same municipal area; and
(b) give the Commission a
copy of that reconciliation
in an approved form.
(5) In this section
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Fire Service Amendment Act 2009
Act No. of
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"grade", of property, means
its grade according to
whether its assessed
annual value is
(a) greater than the
minimum assessed
annual value; or
(b) equal to the
minimum assessed
annual value; or
(c) less than the
minimum assessed
annual value.
7. Section 81 substituted
Section 81 of the Principal Act is repealed and
the following sections are substituted:
81. Contributions to be made by local councils
(1) The contribution required to be made by
a local council for a financial year (in
this section referred to as "the
contribution year") in respect of each
category of land in its municipal area is
an amount calculated in accordance with
the following formula:
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Fire Service Amendment Act 2009
Act No. of
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where
"a" is the amount of the contribution;
and
"b" is the total leviable value of all
land of that particular category
within the local council's
municipal area for the
contribution year and the 5
financial years immediately
preceding the contribution year;
and
"c" is the total leviable value of all
land of that particular category in
the State for the contribution year
and the 5 financial years
immediately preceding the
contribution year; and
"d" is the total estimated operating
expenses and capital costs, as
approved by the Minister, of
brigades within that particular
category of land in the State,
less
(a) such portion of the
prescribed amount under
section 79(3) as relates to
the same category of land;
and
(b) the sum of all the
minimum fire service
contributions that the
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Fire Service Amendment Act 2009
Act No. of
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Commission estimates
will be payable in respect
of the contribution year in
the State as regards the
same category of land;
and
"e" is the sum of all the minimum fire
service contributions that the
Commission estimates will be
payable for the contribution year
in the council's municipal area as
regards that particular category of
land.
(2) In this section
"category", of land, means its
category according to whether it
is
(a) permanent brigade rating
district land; or
(b) composite brigade rating
district land; or
(c) volunteer brigade rating
district land; or
(d) general land;
"leviable value", of land, means its
net assessed annual value (being
net assessed annual value greater
than minimum assessed annual
value), adjusted by the
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Fire Service Amendment Act 2009
Act No. of
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Commission pursuant to
section 80(3).
81A. Allowable rate of annual increase or
decrease in contribution
(1) This section applies if, for any council,
the amount of the contribution calculated
under section 81 for any category of land
for a financial year ("the council's new
contribution") increases or decreases by
more than the allowed percentage
relative to the amount of the contribution
so calculated for the immediately
preceding financial year ("the council's
previous contribution)".
(2) The council's new contribution is to be
adjusted so that it does not exceed or, as
the case may be, fall short of the
council's previous contribution by more
than the allowed percentage.
(3) The excess or shortfall (being the amount
by which the council's new contribution
exceeded or, as the case may be, fell
short of the council's previous
contribution by more than the allowed
percentage) is to be reallocated across all
other councils, for the same category of
land, in accordance with the formula in
section 81.
(4) In this section
"adjustment rate" means
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Fire Service Amendment Act 2009
Act No. of
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(a) 5%; or
(b) if another percentage is
prescribed, that other
percentage (instead of
5%);
"allowed percentage" means the total
(Statewide) percentage increase
or decrease for the relevant
category of land for the relevant
financial year relative to the
immediately preceding financial
year, plus the adjustment rate (in
the case of an increase) or minus
the adjustment rate (in the case of
a decrease).
8. Section 81B amended (Commission to notify local
councils of contribution)
Section 81B of the Principal Act is amended by
omitting "1 June" and substituting "30 April".
9. Section 81C amended (Collection by local councils
of contribution)
Section 81C of the Principal Act is amended by
omitting subsection (5) and substituting the
following subsection:
(5) A council may collect the fire service
contribution (for the rateable parcels of
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Act No. of
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land in its municipal area) under the
Local Government Act 1993.
10. Section 82 inserted
After section 81D of the Principal Act, the
following section is inserted in Division 3:
82. 2010 transitional doubts removal
(1) To avoid doubt, the amendments of this
Division made by the Fire Service
Amendment Act 2009
(a) apply only in respect of the
financial years following the
transition year; and
(b) do not affect the calculation or
collection of contributions under
section 79 for the transition year.
(2) In this section
"transition year" means the financial
year ending on 30 June 2010.
Government Printer, Tasmania 11