![Coolamon Shire Council mayor David McCann is calling for an inquiry into the emergency management funding arrangements supporting the operations of the NSW Rural Fire Service. Picture by Ash Smith Coolamon Shire Council mayor David McCann is calling for an inquiry into the emergency management funding arrangements supporting the operations of the NSW Rural Fire Service. Picture by Ash Smith](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GGnMDP6H6ep7kM2Dx35kRi/d9a560fb-eccc-4720-906a-a2f27d2012f5.jpg/r0_0_6496_4331_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A Riverina council is calling for an investigation into the operations of the Rural Fire Service after the state government scrapped its subsidy for the controversial emergency services levy.
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Coolamon Shire Council is calling for a full and open inquiry into emergency management funding arrangements which currently rely on the levy for funding.
An 11.7 per cent contribution from NSW councils to the levy is used to help operate state-run organisations such as the State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service.
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In recent years, the levy has ballooned to cost councils hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cost of the levy for Coolamon Shire in the upcoming financial year is $335,163, an increase of almost $13,000 on last year.
The rebate from the state government for the previous year was $89,413.36. Its removal takes the total increase in the council's emergency services levy budget to $102,000 and mayor David McCann is not happy.
Cr McCann said the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal's 3.7 per cent rate cap increase for the upcoming financial year amounted to an increase in rate income of $97,000, but this still left the council out of pocket.
"This ridiculous situation is simply not sustainable," he said.
Cr McCann is calling for a complete review of emergency service operations. He said there should be a focus on greater accountability for expenditure and called for the development of a funding model similar to the other emergency service agencies in NSW.
"Ratepayers paying for the volunteer services such as the RFS through council may have made sense back in the old bush fire brigade days, when councils purchased and controlled the assets locally, but times have significantly changed," he said.
Cr McCann said the current system would cause considerable financial stress on local governments, who can see no end to future increases in the levy.
While critical of emergency services arrangements, Cr McCann said this had nothing to do with the volunteers of those organisations. "The volunteers in the RFS and the SES are our greatest asset," he said. "But unfortunately whenever the local government raises this issue with the government, it is seen as being critical of the volunteers. This is not the case."
Cr McCann's plea follows Local Government NSW's calls for the government to restore the subsidy for 2023-24, and establish a fair and more sustainable way to fund the state's emergency services.
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