Part 2Water services delivery plans and foundational information disclosure requirements
Foundational information disclosure requirements: Levy
49Levy
Every person who provides water services must pay to the Minister the levy determined in accordance with regulations made under subsection (2).
The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations—
- specifying the amount of levies, or method of calculating or ascertaining the amount of levies, on the basis that the estimated costs for an appropriation period of performing or exercising the Commission’s functions, duties, and powers under this subpart, and of collecting the levy money, should be met fully out of levies:
- including in levies, or providing for the inclusion in levies of, any shortfall in recovering those actual costs:
- refunding, or providing for refunds of, any over-recovery of those actual costs:
- providing different levies for different classes of providers of water services:
- specifying the appropriation period or part appropriation period to which those levies apply, and applying to that appropriation period or part appropriation period and each subsequent appropriation period until revoked or replaced:
- providing for the payment and collection of those levies:
- for the first appropriation period to which the levy applies to a provider of water services or class of provider of water services, including in the levy amount or method any costs incurred by the Commission in connection with preparing itself to perform or exercise, and performing or exercising, its functions, duties, and powers under this subpart, irrespective of the fact—
- that the regulations are made and come into effect after that period; or
- that the water services become regulated after the costs were incurred:
- that the regulations are made and come into effect after that period; or
- requiring payment of a levy for an appropriation period or a part appropriation period, irrespective of the fact that the regulations may be made after that appropriation period has commenced:
- exempting, or providing for exemptions from, and providing for waivers of, the whole or any part of the levy for any case or class of cases.
In subsection (2), appropriation period, in relation to any estimated costs, means—
- a financial year; or
- if the estimated costs will be incurred under the authority of a multi-year appropriation or of a multi-year appropriation proposed in any Estimates, the financial years to which the multi-year appropriation applies.
In subsection (3),—
Estimates—
- has the meaning given in section 2(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989; and
- includes Supplementary Estimates as defined in section 2(1) of that Act
multi-year appropriation means an appropriation authorised to apply for more than 1 financial year (see section 10 of the Public Finance Act 1989).
- has the meaning given in section 2(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989; and
The Crown may recover any unpaid levy as a debt to the Crown.
The Minister must consult with providers of water services before making a recommendation for the purposes of subsection (2).
Regulations made under this section are secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).