Ratepayers slugged with new health levy as ACT budget deficit balloons to $1.1 billion

ABC NEWS (Australia)

In handing down his first ACT budget, Treasurer Chris Steel said rising healthcare costs would push the territory further into the red to the tune of $1.1 billion for 2024-2025.

Transcript

00:00Michael Johns thinks of himself as part of the sandwich generation, crunching the numbers

00:07to care for kids and ageing parents, along with rates on a unit while his family's new

00:13home is being built.

00:14Either use public transport or ride out bicycles around as opposed to running the car.

00:20We limit discretionary spending, we try to keep control of discretionary spending.

00:26Renter Ellie Kadushan is facing different challenges.

00:30She works one day a week and receives a disability support pension and is eligible for a rebate

00:35on her energy bills.

00:36It takes a bit of the edge off bills and stuff like that.

00:40While the ACT government says there are still subsidies and services people like Ellie can

00:45call on, others like Michael will have to wear some of the burden of repairing a budget strained

00:51by growing demand for health services.

00:54We have had to make difficult decisions in the budget to be able to continue to deliver

00:59the critical health care services that Canberrans rely on.

01:03The deficit for this financial year has blown out beyond a billion dollars, but the government

01:08expects to more than halve it in just 12 months, before eventually returning surpluses a year

01:14later than previously expected.

01:16As for net debt, it will continue to grow through the forward estimates.

01:20We need to make sure that we continue to look at the infrastructure program and make sure

01:25that it's deliverable.

01:26We're not going to be cancelling infrastructure projects that the community expects us to deliver.

01:32Instead, the budget includes a new annual $250 health levy for the next four years on residential,

01:39commercial and rural rates.

01:41The choice that we had in this budget was to continue to deliver those critical health

01:47care services or to stop the delivery or slash or cut the level of support that we could provide

01:54in our hospital system.

01:55There will also be an additional tax in general rates on residential, non-unit properties with

02:01an unimproved value of more than $1 million.

02:04And there'll be increases in the existing ambulance and safer families levies, adding $290 in total

02:11to rates payers' bills, on top of annual rate increases of anywhere between $47 and $2,332

02:19for standalone homes and between $25 and $334 for units, depending on the suburb.

02:26We expect that interest rates will continue to come down through the budget and so that

02:34will ease cost of living pressures, we think, for households.

02:39Along with the inevitable increases to things like parking, vehicle registration and public

02:44transport fees, the duty exemption for purchases of zero emissions vehicles will end.

02:49And for businesses, the wage bill threshold for liability for payroll tax will be reduced

02:55from $2 million to $1.75 million.

02:58The government insists it will be doing some belt tightening of its own, looking for $282

03:03million over four years in savings in the Territory Public Service.

03:08What we are seeking to do is restrain the growth in full-time equivalent public servants, but

03:14not make cuts and certainly not affecting public servants' pay.

03:19The Treasurer says underestimates of Canberra's population by the Australian Bureau of Statistics,

03:24skewed by the use of Medicare addresses, is an ongoing issue affecting the ACT's share

03:29of GST.

03:30And he argues that the Commonwealth should be chipping in more for the health system.

03:34It should be 45%, could go as low as 33% unless they contribute more into the system and so

03:41that will be the subject of quite intense negotiations.

03:46We know the government has a spending problem so there was only one way this was ever going

03:50to work.

03:51You either increase your income through tax or you drop your spending.

03:54Those relying on government subsidies say they have to keep up with inflation.

03:59So not just it goes up once and then they kind of leave it there because everything else

04:03goes up as well.

04:04Michael appreciates the rates funded services that are available, but the prospect of an increase

04:09presents challenges.

04:11Every time you pay the rates, I mean that's less money to pay the supermarket.

04:18Nobody's gotoires for the rate above t

04:27when you pay your fees.

04:29吗?

04:30But it's not really important for us.

04:30So if you have any advice?

04:31We know that there'll be rates that often don't pay far from Chase because of him, so

04:37it's a very good point for us.

04:39WhichUSE means to PM because of the estates of his casa.

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