Gotta get that money for the unions from somewhere Dan , eh?
Going Backwards with Labor.
VICTORIAN homeowners could face a huge rise in the fire services levy if a claim for a 30 per cent pay rise for CFA firefighters is accepted.
Farmers, homeowners and business owners could be hit with an 80 per cent rise if it is accepted, the Victorian Farmers Federation says.
VFF president Peter Tuohey said the rise was based on the $1.6 billion cost for the pay claim, which the Herald Sun revealed last week.
EDITORIAL: GET OVER YOUR EGO, PREMIER
“It’s an absurdity that Victorians can’t afford,” Mr Tuohey said. “How can anyone demand an annual 10 per cent pay rise and all these other perks, when the rest of us have to keep tightening our belts to survive?”
The huge bill was based on internal calculations from the CFA, after the United Firefighters Union presented the organisation with a claim for a 9.7 per cent pay rise every year for the next three years.
About 75 per cent of the CFA budget is funded through the fire services levy, which is charged to every Victorian ratepayer.
For a homeowner in a MFB fire services area with a $500,000 house, the levy could jump from $134.50 to $242.10 in 2018.
For a home worth $500,000 in a CFA fire region, the levy would jump from $156.50 to $281.70.
The levy varies on whether the property is in a CFA or MFB region, whether it is a private home, business or farm and the valuation from council rates.
Mr Tuohey said Premier Daniel Andrews needed to step in and deal with the union.
“The Victorian Government has an obligation to stand up to the unions to ensure we don’t have to pay the cost of their outrageous demands,” Mr Tuohey said.
He said a large part of the cost was being driven by a deal Mr Andrews struck with the union before last year’s state election to deliver an extra 350 career firefighters to the CFA.
Mr Tuohey said demands for more union committees to approve CFA management decisions were also concerning.
“The last thing farmers want to see is the union retaking control of the CFA.”
