The Marshall Liberal Government continues to deliver massive ESL savings for South Australians by putting $90 million a year back into the pockets of families.
An average household set to save more than 50 per cent or $163.60 in 2020-21 compared with the policy under the former Labor government.
Treasurer Rob Lucas said the Government had locked-in $360m in ESL savings over four years – ending years of huge bill hikes under the former Labor government.
“We are continuing to deliver significant cost-of-living relief for hardworking South Australian households and families, by slashing their ESL bills by $90 million per year,” said Mr Lucas.
“Households with a property valued at the median price of $480,000 in the metropolitan area will receive a $163.60 saving on their ESL bill in 2020-21, compared with what they would have paid under Labor.
“There will be a modest $6.95 increase (5.4%) on their average bill compared with last year (based on the same median priced property) – from $129.80 to $136.75 – due to increased expenditure on our vital emergency services.
“In particular, about $19.5m from the Community Emergency Services Fund spent fighting bushfires this year has reduced available cash in the fund to minimise bill increases next year.”
Mr Lucas said the ESL funded critical emergency services in SA and $4.3 million of the additional $11 million estimated to be collected in 2020-21 would go towards purchasing new appliances for our MFS and CFS firefighters ($3m) and retrofitting vehicles with fire protection safety systems ($1.3m).
The Government will also allocate $1.4m next year to implement an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system for tracking CFS and other emergency service vehicles.
The Government has also had to allocate another $6.9m next year due to a 2017 MFS enterprise agreement agreed by the former Labor Government which resulted in an additional pay increase without any productivity or efficiency offsets.
“Summer’s devastating bushfires reminded us all of the heroic efforts of our emergency services in keeping our community safe, and we’re pleased these vital services will receive significant funding to support their ongoing, lifesaving work,” said Mr Lucas.
Total expenditure on emergency services is projected to be $340.6 million in 2020-21, down from an estimated $346.2 million in 2019-20, which included extraordinary costs associated with the bushfires of December 2019/January 2020.
The Parliament’s Economic and Finance Committee will today be provided a report in accordance with the Emergency Services Funding Act 1998 which outlines the determinations in respect of the amount that needs to be raised by means of the levy on land to fund emergency services and proposed ESL rate settings in 2020-21.
In 2020-21, a residential property valued at $750,000 in the metropolitan area will save $255.60 on its $185.60 ESL bill compared to what they would have paid under Labor.
A commercial property valued at $1 million in metropolitan Adelaide will pay an additional $106.70 next year but will still receive a $69.95 saving on its $1341.40 ESL bill, compared to what they would have paid under Labor.
