- Bendigo business welcomes budget tax cut
- Women’s refuge welcomes ‘amazing investment’
- Central Victoria focus on schools, rail
- Payroll tax to decrease
- Record funding to fight family violence
- Councils to no longer fund SES
- Centralised hub could be on its way to Bendigo
- Budget both welcome and ‘disappointing’: lawyers
- Victorian state budget 2017-18: The winners and losers
- What does the state budget mean for you?
- Analysis: A sensible budget, politically and economically
THE state government delivered its 2017 state budget on Tuesday.
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Follow the updates here this afternoon for how the budget will affect our region.
Budget updates
Money for schools, courts, rail
Schools and rail appear to be the big winners in central Victoria in the 2017-18 state budget, while Bendigo’s ailing court precinct has also landed a funding win.
Thirteen schools in central Victoria – including Spring Gully, Lockwood, Kalianna and Big Hill – will share in $22.8 million in upgrades.
The state government earlier announced $91 million to improve train services between Bendigo and Echuca, and will also add $311 million for more VLocity carriages, and $316 million in maintenance funding.
The Bendigo law courts received some recognition in the budget, with $3.9 million to “develop plans to address current and future demand pressures so cases can be heard sooner”. Read more.
Courts: Mixed reaction for Bendigo Law Association
The Bendigo Law Association welcomed the funding commitment, to plan for the “modernisation and expansion” of the Bendigo Law Courts.
Less welcome was a lack of funds in the budget to establish a specialist family violence court in Bendigo, with the city overlooked in a $130 million plan to create five of the specialist facilities across the state. Read more.
Jobs: Government hub for Bendigo?
A plan to bring 600 government jobs to Ballarat could also be in the pipeline for Bendigo, the state government has announced, with plans underway for a centralised hub in the Bendigo CBD. Read more.
State Emergency Service: State takes over funding
As we mentioned earlier, the state government will take over funding for the SES, providing certainty to the emergency service. Treasurer Tim Pallas announced $14.9 million in the 2017-18 budget for operational costs for SES units across the state, replacing the former model where local councils would provide about 50 per cent of the funding. Read more.
Family violence: Prevention a focus
A record amount of funding will be spent on family violence prevention initiatives in Victoria as part of the 2017-18 state budget.
The state government will spend $1.9 billion to implement all 227 recommendation from the Family Violence Royal Commission.
The plan is highlighted by $448 million to establish 17 Support and Safety Hubs across the state. It is unclear whether one will be located in Bendigo. Read more.
Tax: Payroll tax cut in country
The state government says regional Victoria will have the lowest rate of payroll tax in Australia, announced during the 2017-18 state budget.
The rate will decrease from 4.85 per cent to 3.65 per cent for business “based primarily in regional Victoria”.
The payroll tax-free threshold will increase to $625,000 from July 1 this year, and to $650,000 next year. Read more.
From the Premier
Premier Daniel Andrews says this year’s budget is about getting on with the job.
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And from the Coalition…
2017 Budget Fast Facts
Labor’s nine new taxes
- Energy tax on coal royalties
- The taxi and Uber tax
- Land tax surcharge for absentee owners introduced (0.5%) then increased to 1.5%
- Stamp duty surcharge for foreign buyers introduced (3%) then increased to 7%
- Fire Services Property Levy hiked
- Increase in stamp duty on new cars
- New stamp duties on off-the-plan purchases
- New stamp duties on property transfers between spouses
- New annual property valuations to increase land tax
The Coalition says: “In this budget, Labor will increase taxation revenue by $174.8 million in 2017-18 and $1.4 billion over four years.
- From 1 July 2017 stamp duty on property transfers between spouses and de facto partners. This will raise $20 million per year.
- Make buying a new car more expensive for Victorians. The duty on new passenger vehicles will increase from $6.40 per $200 of the market value to $8.40 per $200 – this will increase the price of new vehicles by 1%. This will raise $391.4 million over four years ($93.8 million in 2017/18).
- Introduce Vacant residential property tax. This will increase revenue by $80 million over the four years (this will raise $10 million in 2017/18).
- Removing the off-the-plan stamp duty concession. From 1 July 2017 it will only be available to home buyers who qualify for the principal place of residence stamp duty concession or who qualify for the first home buyer stamp duty exemption or concession. This will raise $51 million in 2017/18 and $841.2 million over four years.
- Introduce property valuations annually rather than every two years (the Budget Papers doesn’t include how much revenue this will raise).
Labor has introduced nine new taxes which has increased tax revenue by over $1.6 billion in the last two Budgets.”
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Ahead of the budget:
$15m for State Emergency Service
Victoria’s state budget will include a major shakeup of how the State Emergency Service is funded.
Currently councils and the state government jointly fund the service, but since the government introduced rate-capping many councils have raised issues with the funding arrangement.
Tuesday’s state budget will include $15 million to support the SES. Read more.
RELATED:
$5m for Spring Gully Primary School
Work on upgrades to Spring Gully Primary School could start as soon as this year, following a $5.17 million injection in the budget.
Principal Francis Trezise said the upgrades would include classrooms that would give greater flexibility for teaching and learning to meet today’s education needs. Read more.
Hopes for Bendigo court funding
The city's legal fraternity, business leaders and welfare workers are all hoping to see funding for an upgrade to Bendigo’s law courts form part of the Victorian government’s budget when it is released.
Business Excellence Bendigo chief executive officer Leah Sertori said a pre-budget survey of the organisation’s members revealed a new purpose-built court facility was their “top priority” for state government funding. Read more.
RELATED:
Bendigo rail to benefit in budget
Works on train lines between Bendigo and Echuca will form part of the state government budget for the next financial year, Victoria’s premier and transport minister have said.
A $91 million cash injection will see signalling upgrades and track works carried out along the Bendigo line, part of what the government is calling its “regional rail revival” package. Read more.
RELATED:
State budget wishlist tops $1b
Regional Cities Victoria has released a wishlist with more than $1 billion in projects it would like to see prioritised in the upcoming state budget.
The group – comprising mayors and chief executive officers from Victoria’s 10 largest regional cities – is calling for $970 million from the Port of Melbourne lease to be rolled out to regional Victoria. Read more.
