Hon Peter Dunne
Minister of Internal Affairs

14 March 2017
Media Statement

Consultation on Fire and Emergency levy regulations

Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne has released a discussion document on proposed fire and emergency services levy regulations as part of the reform of the fire services sector.

Legislation before the House will establish a new organisation, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fire and Emergency), on 1 July 2017 that amalgamates rural and urban fire services.

As well as delivering our nationwide fire service, Fire and Emergency will provide a broad range of non-fire emergency services, such as responding to floods and storms, hazardous substances incidents, and earthquakes.

The Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bill makes changes to how Fire and Emergency is funded. To reflect the wider scope of Fire and Emergency, the levy will broaden from fire insurance policies to policies insuring property against physical loss or damage.

“The broadened levy base reflects the principle that the new levy regime is universal – that the costs of Fire and Emergency are shared among all who benefit from the potential to use their services. These proposals are intended to help policyholders adapt to the new system.”

“The public has five weeks to give feedback on two technical but important aspects of the levy regime: levy on insurance policies covering different types of property, and transitional levy relief."

“Different types of property, including residential property, non-residential property and motor vehicles, may have different levy rates or caps. Some property will be exempt from the levy. Regulations will clarify how the levy will be calculated on insurance policies that cover these different types of property.”

Regulations may provide full or partial exemptions from levy for policyholders who face an unreasonable burden as a result of the changes to the levy regime. This transitional levy relief can apply for up to seven years. The Minister is seeking feedback on the circumstances in which transitional levy relief could be granted and how it would be calculated.

“The legislation recognises that the changes to the levy regime may affect some property owners more than others. Feedback is sought on how best to ease the transition for those most affected."

"This discussion document is an important step towards putting the new levy regime in place to support our new fire services.”

The consultation closes on 19 April. The discussion document is on the Department of Internal Affairs website, along with a submission form. Feedback should be sent to FireServicesTransition@dia.govt.nz.

The document can be viewed here: https://www.dia.govt.nz/Fire-Services-Transition

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