The State Opposition has accused the Government of concealing a tax hike for household water bills in the latest budget papers.
The Opposition says the budget includes a $50 million increase in the environmental contribution levy, which will come into effect in July next year.
But the Opposition says the budget does not outline what environment projects the money will be spent on.
Opposition spokesman John Lenders says it is a sneaky tax grab.
“This is the opportunity Mr Baillieu has to gouge another $47 million out of Victorian families for this year,” he said.
“There are no projects in the Department of Sustainability and Environment for it.
“In fact [of] last year’s amount, only two thirds of it was spent. It is simply an opportunity for him to put another tax hike on families.”
Water minister Peter Walsh says the environmental contribution levy increases by a fixed percentage every four years.
He says the money will be spent on environmental projects.
“Not all projects have been identified at this stage,” he said.
“[It] is not appropriate to say that we know what we need to spend that money on in four years time.
“I don’t think is a good decision-making process.”
