Hi everyone
Yesterday the NSW Government sent out their first official communication to all council General Managers regarding the Emergency Services Funding Reform – Preliminary Land Classification requirements.
Background
On 16 November 2023, the NSW Government announced its commitment to reform the way New South Wales funds its emergency services.
The legislative amendments in the Emergency Services Levy Amendment (Land Classification) Act 2024 (assented to on 20 June 2024) require local councils to classify all land within their area and identify if land is owned by a person belonging to a certain class of persons.
The Treasurer will issue guidelines to specify how councils are to undertake their preliminary land classification activities. The councils must then provide this information to Revenue NSW, who will maintain a register of it. The Government has committed to make payments to councils for reasonable costs incurred in fulfilling their obligations.
Councils across NSW will soon be required to undertake preliminary land classification activities in this calendar year to provide Revenue NSW with land classification and property identification data for all properties in their area.
Next steps
A webinar will be held for council General Managers and Directors to provide an overview of the reform, each Council’s role undertaking preliminary land classifications, how Revenue NSW will support councils to provide land classification data, the data transfer solution and the council costs framework.
If you have any questions, please post them in this forum and don’t forget to subscribe to the topic.
Regards,
Andrew
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