Brooke van Velden. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The government is refusing to release briefings about how to levy people to pay for emergency services.
It has till December to come up with a new type of levy to fund Fire and Emergency (FENZ), or risk running out of time before the change kicks in in 2026.
The current levy on insurance premiums raises well over $600 million a year.
Documents released under the Official Information Act showed Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden has had four lots of briefings or meetings, including one in January about who should be exempt from the tax.
But she withheld details of them from RNZ, based on protecting the confidentiality of the advice she received.
A new form of levy, called the Part 3 levy, is due to kick in in 2026, aimed at broadening the base of residential, commercial and vehicle policy holders who have to pay.
The insurance industry opposes the levy and wants it scrapped, arguing it is unfair, allowing the uninsured to free-ride.
FENZ's view was that the near-13 percent rise in funding it would bring was only a stopgap.
"Levy funding will not cover the demand on the asset base in its current condition, and there is work underway to identify the financial shortfall," it said in February.
The minister must decide by the end of the year on the exact size and shape of this new levy, FENZ said, to give the insurance industry time to be ready and "avoid incurring penalties for incorrectly collecting the levy".
FENZ's costs were forecast to rise to $760m in two years, $50m ahead of its revenues. Direct Crown funding of FENZ was just $10m a year.