I don’t know about you, but my opinion is the NZ Fire Service executives get well paid for doing..?? and the fire crews have to do the hard work but get paid well for it and know this is what their job entails when they applied… its not as if they took the job expecting to just clean the fire trucks all day or climb the Sky Tower steps with their gear on. It’s the officials that get ‘up my goat’ as now they want to spread the net wider to capture a bigger revenue base, plus increase the cost for those already paying levies. If the merger of the urban and rural fire authorities is designed to deliver efficiencies and service, why do they need more money?
It hardly needs saying but collecting levies from your insurance policy is a ridiculous way to fund the NZ Fire Service. Its should clearly be a land based levy that all property owners pay....... this being who benefits from the guys in red trucks coming to put out a fire, help in a flood or vehicle accident.
Anyhow, here’s the official bits …… believe what you want to and ignore the rest
The Fire and Emergency Services New Zealand Act 2017 was passed into law on 11 May 2017. The Act effectively amalgamates the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority, 12 rural fire districts and 26 territorial authority rural fire authorities into a single organisation.
The detailed funding model for FENZ has not been finalised yet, however it will include, inter alia, levies on Material Damage, Motor Vehicle and Home and Contents insurance policies. This and other specific regulations pertaining to the Act remain under consideration by cabinet.
Meanwhile an interim increase in Fire Levies has been announced as follows:
2017 Fire Levy Rate Increases
- · With effect from July 1 2017 the following FSL rates will apply to new policies:
- · Property government levy will increase from 7.6c to 10.6c per $100 insured
- · Motor Vehicle (< 3.5 ton) government levy will increase from $6.08 per vehicle to $8.45 per vehicle
- · Motor Vehicle (> 3.5 ton) government levy will increase from 7.6c to 10.6c per $100 of sum insured
- · Marine government levy will increase from 7.6c to 10.6c per $100 of sum insured