by Keith Anderson
Victoria's Fire Services Levy will be gone next year but a new charge will hit property owners much harder.

A new and much dearer Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund (ESVF) will replace it.
The state government said, as well as funding the Country Fire Authority and State Emergency Service, the levy that comes into affect next financial year will finance the Triple Zero emergency call service, the State Control Centre and Emergency Management Victoria.
Like the FSL, the new ESVF fee will be listed on municipal rates with councils collecting the money for the government.
Property owners will be levied on the capital improved values of their holdings that are reviewed at January 1 each year by the state's Valuer-General.
Member for Eastern Victoria Melina Bath said services such as Triple Zero, the State Control Centre and Emergency Management were core services of government that current tax revenue should pay for.
She said the new levy on home owners and commercial premises would double, farmers would pay almost three times the current rate (a rise of 189 per cent) and the charge on industrial properties would increase by 64 per cent.
Ms Bath said it was the 57th new or increased tax since the Labor state government was elected a decade ago.
She said CFA volunteers she'd spoken to were angry there were no details of what the service would actually get, stating it had continually been short changed and hit with budget cuts with volunteers having to fundraise to pay for vital equipment.
In a letter to the editor of The Gazette (December 17), Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria state councillor Darren Wallace of Trafalgar stated about 700 of the CFA appliances were single cabin and more than 21-years-old, and another 300 were 16 to 20-years-old, but only $15 million is provided for replacements each year.
He stated this year only 25 per cent of the Fire Services Levy went to the CFA, the other 75 per cent went to a paid metro fire service.
Mr Wallace said CFA funding had been cut in each of the past five years when it was estimated 100 trucks need to be replaced annually.
He said CFA volunteers responded to thousands of house, industrial, grass and bush fires every year as well as attending a vast array of other emergencies such as road and marine accidents and hazardous material spills.