[Maria Devoti]

I have had a request from Fire & Rescue NSW to classify their Fire Stations as non-rateable. I have declined the request. They have now come back requesting exemption on the basis that they fall under land owned by the Crown.

Can anyone advise if they exempt Fire & Rescue NSW.

Thanks

Maria

[Robert Hay]

Hi Maria

In Ku-ring-gai the property is under the ownership of the Minister for Police and Emergency Services and is Non Rateable.

Have you done a title search?

Robert

[Andrew Butcher]

Hi Maria
I tend to agree with Robert, this land certainly appears to be crown land used for crown purposes.
Also, all Fire & Rescue property in Campbelltown is exempt from land rates for this reason.
Hope this is helpful,
Regards,
Andrew

[Todd Cowan]

Hi Maria,

NSW Fire & Rescue (Fire Stations) are rateable as they come under the auspices of the Board of Fire Commissioners, and not the Crown

Regards
Todd @ Burwood

[Ken Bakon]

We have 3 stations in the Bankstown area of Canterbury-Bankstown, under the name of NSW Fire and Rescue.
All are rateable.

[Andrew Butcher]

Hi Maria and Todd

I still agree with Roberts original post as it relates to Fire and Rescue. It would appear that not all boards of the fire commissioner have been transferred to Fire and Rescue so there are two separate scenarios in play. This is basically all the information that I have and councils may want to read this before making their decision,

1. The Office of State Revenue identifies Fire and Rescue as a Government body or Statutory body (not State owned Corporations), you can access the link here http://www.osr.nsw.gov.au/taxes/payroll/government

2. In Campbelltown the boards of fire commissioners had been dissolved and all assets transferred to the crown. Check part 2 of schedule 4 of the Fire Brigades Act 1989.

If you have received any advice or information that in support would you be kind enough to share.

Regards,

Andrew

[Maria Devoti]

Hi All,
Thanks for your posts they have been very helpful. I have done Title Searches and they all are in the name of Minister for Emergency Services on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I have now made them non-rateable.

Regards

Maria

[Andrew Butcher]

Hi Maria
Just goes to show how these matters differ between council’s. It is something that needs further investigation so that councils can be better informed.
Based on the CT’s the land appears to be crown land and therefore if not subject to a lease would be non-ratable.
Thank you for identifying this issue.
Regards,
Andrew

[Suzi Flynn]

Hi everyone,
For those of you that may be rating Fire & Rescue NSW properties, their Principal Solicitor has asked me how they might best communicate this issue to all NSW Councils. I suggested they contact OLG but also will need to speak directly with each Council about the properties for which they seek a rate exemption.
Regards,
Suzi

[Trevor Holland]

Hi Everyone
Will put my two bob’s worth in. Not sure if it will help or confuse but here goes.
We have properties up here in the mountains in the name of Fire & Rescue as well as Emergency Services.
All of these properties are rateable and it has never been questioned.
In fact we had one property that wasn’t being rated and the Fire Brigade rang to ask why.
For what it is worth I also came across some details in a book that I used when studying some years ago. Titled Local Government and Environmental Planning Law New South Wales.
The book makes reference to Section 132 of Local Government Act 1919 “Exemptions from Rates” and states as follows:
“The exemptions may be dealt with as in s132.Some of the exemptions have been litigated extensively; others have not”………….
(g) land owned by the Crown, not being –
(i) land held under a lease from the Crown by any person for private purposes;
(ii) land occupied and used by the Crown in connection with any industrial undertaking.
As part of the explanation it also states:
“The Governor may declare an undertaking to be an industrial undertaking for the purposes of section (Section 132(4)) and the Metropolitan Meat Industry Board and the Board of Fire Commissioners have been so declared”.
As the above related to the 1919 LGA I am unsure whether there has been a further declaration by the Governor under the current legislation or whether the initial declaration carries forward. Perhaps that is something that needs to be investigated further.
If anyone would like a copy of the extract from the book please let me know and I will happily scan and email it through.
Regards
Trevor

[Steve Ansoul]

FYI – Byron also received a request to review rateability of the 4 fire stations in our shire. They were all being rated. Title searches were performed and they were all in the name of “Minister for Emergency Services” or “State of NSW”. I acknowledge the prior Act issue with the undertaking “Board of Fire Commissioners” although irrelevant in our case (maybe this is why they had been rated historically). I determined that all are Crown owned land and that “Fire & Rescue NSW” is a state govt agency so therefore exempt under 555 (1a). The other issue for councils that are also water utilities is in regard to water and sewer charging. Non-rateable properties are not exempt from S.502 user charges but should be exempt from 501 annual charges. In our case, historically we have levied volumetric charges (S.502) but also levied fixed water & sewer charges (S.501) if the property utilises the services (based on an equity logic).

Cheers
Steve A.

[nucleo]

I have land that is owned by council but is leased to The Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW for $1 pa. Can I assume it should be non rateable?

[Suzi Flynn]

Hi Adele,

Council land is only exempt if it is not leased, due to the definitions of public land. The purpose of the lease (whether public or private) does not come into it. I think in this circumstance the land is rateable and Council is the liable body, not the Board of Fire Commissioners.

Suzi

[Steve Ansoul]

Hi Adele,

I agree with Suzi. The land is not owned by the crown so S555(1a) is irrelevant. Council land is rateable unless specifically exempted. If Council wanted to seek reimbursement for the rates and charges from the lessee, an outgoings clause would have needed to be inserted in the lease agreement.

Steve A.

[nucleo]

Thanks for your help.

[Author]

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