Act Health Levy lowered to $ 100 as part of the budget agreement with Greens

The ACT government has reduced its proposed health levy from $ 250 to $ 100 for residential ratepayers after closing a deal with the Greens.

The levy was unveiled in the ACT budget last week and had to be attached to rates to rates every year until 2029-30, which resulted in an extra $ 205 million extra in four years to help pay for health services.

But the Act Greens said that they would not support what the party called an “unfair and regressive tax”.

After days of negotiations, the levy has now been reduced to $ 100 for owners of residential and national real estate, but remains $ 250 for commercial properties.

Treasurer Chris Steel said that the agreement followed constructive discussions with the Act Greens about income measures in the Budget 2025-26.

“The levy will provide the necessary income to finance record investments in the Public Health System of Canberra, which is now good for more than 33 percent of the ACT budget,” Steel said.

The revised levy has only been agreed for one year and will be assessed annually.

To compensate for the lower levy, Mr Steel said that the government would introduce a higher wage tax rate of 8.75 percent for large companies with national payroll of more than $ 150 million. The new rate is expected to take effect from January 1.

“This outcome reflects the government’s dedication to work together to ensure that vital services are financed in a responsible manner, without the need for deep cuts on public services or infrastructure investments,” he said.

‘A great victory for Canberra’

Act Greens -leader Shane Rattenbury said his party could not support the levy in his original form.

“Through these negotiations, we acknowledge that it is vital for the government to increase the income needed to pay for important community services in this area,” said Rattenbury.

He said that the flat levy was unfair, but there had been “considerable pressure” to quickly reach an agreement, whereby the rates have to be signed on 30 June at midnight.

“There had to be a decision today to enable the government to place determination in the legislative time frames, so we had to work fairly quickly,” said Mr. Rattenbury.