With emergency services needing sustainable funding, and the government should reconsider its plan to abolish the insurance fire levy, since insurers will likely not pass on the saving to customers anyway, the state president of the United Firefighters' Union has said.
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Leigh Hills said while the two reform options for the property-based fire levy still "needed work", cutting out the fire insurance levy responsible for raising $41 million annually was not a good idea.
"We'd like to see reconsideration of that, anyone who thinks that insurers will drop premiums because they are no longer required to collect the fire levy - yeah, I can't see that happening personally," Mr Hills said.
Mr Hills made the comments as Fire and Emergency Management Minister Felix Ellis said the government would stage a roundtable forum next week to gather feedback about the reform plan from key stakeholders.
The likely to attendees included the Property Council of Australia, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association and the Small Business Council.
Fire and flood responders are currently funded through three separate levies charged on properties, commercial insurance policies and motor vehicles.
The government's proposed new system would abolish the insurance component and raise more funds from properties via council fire levies.
The various lobby groups have said both of the property-based fire levy options under consideration would place an unacceptable burden on farmers and businesses, and could devastate industry.
Mr Ellis said the reform was necessary because the present system of funding was inequitable, with some residents paying far more than residents in other parts of the state, yet receiving a similar service.
Burnie resident and former Mayor Alvwyn Boyd has said he pays about $190 per year for his Burnie property, yet a resident in Somerset, just over the Cam River, would pay $50 for the same service.
Mr Ellis also said that fires and floods were likely to be a bigger risk in the state in the future.
"Events like Dunalley, the Latrobe floods in 2016, and indeed a year ago, the October floods, we will see more of these disasters in our state sadly."
He said the government extended the consultation period on the reforms and would stage the rountable forum next week because it wanted to get the reforms right.
"We'll continue to work with all the parties around this because it's absolutely critical for the future of our state as we head for a world with more frequent and more serious natural disasters."
