Acts & Ordinances
>> Administrative Ordinances

Assessment and Charges Ordinance 1975 -
        Repealed by Cost Recoveries Framework Ordinance 2008

(Reprinted under the Interpretation Ordinance 1985.)

The Assessment Authorisation Ordinance 1975 as amended by the Assessment Authorisation Ordinance 1975 Amendment Ordinance 1976, Assessment Authorisation Ordinance Amendment Ordinance 1977, Assessment Authorisation Amendment Ordinance 1978, Anglican Church Property Trust Diocese of Sydney (Change of Name) Ordinance 1982, Assessment Authorisation Ordinance 1975-1978 Amending Ordinance 1982, Assessment Authorisation Amendment Ordinance 1984, Assessment Authorisation Further Amendment Ordinance 1984, Interpretation Ordinance 1985, Assessment Authorisation Amendment Ordinance 1986, Assisted Provisional Parishes Ordinance 1988, the Assessment Authorisation Ordinance Amendment Ordinance 1990, the Miscellaneous Amendments Ordinance (No 1) 1991, the Regions (Transitional Provisions and Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 1995, the Assisted Provisional Parishes (Reclassification) Ordinance 1997, the Assessment Authorisation Ordinance 1975 Amendment Ordinance 1998, the Miscellaneous Amendments Ordinance 1999, the Parochial Cost Recoveries Ordinance 1999, the Assessment and Charges Ordinance 1975 Amendment Ordinance 2001, the Assessment and Charges Ordinance 1975 Amendment Ordinance 2003, the Assessment and Charges Ordinance 1975 Amendment Ordinance 2007 and the Synod Estimates and Parochial Cost Recoveries (Alignment of Strategy) Ordinance 2008.

Long Title

An Ordinance to authorise assessments on parishes and provisional parishes in the Diocese of Sydney.

Preamble

Whereas it is desirable that the base on which assessments are imposed on parishes and provisional parishes in the Diocese of Sydney be revised Now the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney Hereby Ordains Declares Rules and Directs as follows -

Part 1 - Introduction

Citation and Repeal

1. (1) This Ordinance is the Assessment and Charges Ordinance 1975.

(2) The General Assessment Authorisation Ordinance 1959 as amended is hereby repealed provided that such repeal shall not affect anything done in pursuance thereof or any obligation imposed thereby.

Interpretation

2. In this Ordinance, unless the context or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires -

(a) "churchwardens" shall mean the churchwardens of the principal or only church in each parochial unit;

(b) "financial year" means a period of 12 calendar months commencing on the 1st of January;

(c) "incumbent" means the rector or curate-in-charge of a parochial unit;

(d) "parochial unit" means a parish or provisional parish in the Diocese of Sydney;

(e) "Standing Committee" means the committee for the time being holding office under the provisions of the Standing Committee Ordinance 1897 or any ordinance amending or taking the place of the same;

(f) "Synod" means the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney.

Gross Receipts of a Parochial Unit

3. The gross receipts of a parochial unit for any financial year comprise all moneys received by or on behalf of the churchwardens during the financial year irrespective of the purposes for which those moneys will be or have been used and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes all of the following -

(a) offertories, donations and gifts;

(b) rents, licence fees or similar payments in relation to property;

(c) income from investments;

(d) interest;

(e) any surplus or net profit from trading activities;

(f) money received from any organisation within and associated with the parochial unit;

(g) the cost of any project or disbursement by organisations within and associated with the parochial unit for general parochial purposes, but excluding money disbursed for the equipment conduct and maintenance of the objects of such organisation;

(h) grants from diocesan sources, from other parochial units and from other sources;

(i) amounts received by the Property Trust or by any other trustee on a trust for the parochial unit or any part thereof (whether paid to the said churchwardens or not), but excluding amounts received by the Property Trust from the said churchwardens; and

(j) where a kindergarten or child care centre is conducted on church trust property within the parochial unit -

(i) where a fair and reasonable donation or other payment is made to or for the benefit of the parochial unit in respect of the use of that property by the kindergarten or child care centre - the amount of that donation or payment;

(ii) where no such donation or payment is made - such amount as would be equal to the fair and reasonable annual rental value of that property (whether or not rent is actually paid to or for the benefit of the parochial unit in respect of the conduct of the kindergarten or child care centre).

Provided that moneys which fall within any one of paragraphs (a) to (j) shall be excluded from all of the other paragraphs and there shall not be included (or if included, there shall be excluded) each of the following,
namely -

(i) testamentary dispositions;

(ii) moneys which have been borrowed;

(iii) the proceeds from the sale of any real or personal property;

(iv) moneys received pursuant to an insurance policy;

(v) monies received for and on behalf of a trust where the trust arrangements are such that the funds cannot be applied for purposes in connection with the parish;

(vi) moneys which are paid from the income from property not held in trust for the parochial unit and paid in or towards reimbursing any amount paid by way of stipend or allowances to a person who holds office in the Diocese as an Archdeacon;

(vii) moneys given expressly for the maintenance and/or restoration of any church buildings (including churches, rectories, halls and any ancillary buildings such as stables and school houses) which are subject to listing on the State Heritage Register under the New South Wales Heritage Act. This exclusion shall not apply to moneys received from parishioners (as defined in the Church Administration Ordinance 1990) of the parochial unit concerned or from organisations of that parochial unit; and

(viii) grants from the Archbishop's Vision for Growth Appeal, the Sydney Anglican Home Mission Society, the Regional Council of the Region in which the Parochial Unit is situated, a Minister of the Crown or an instrumentality of the Commonwealth of Australia or the State of New South Wales, a local government council or any other person or body approved for the time being by the Standing Committee.

Allowable Deductions of a Parochial Unit

4. The allowable deductions of a parochial unit for a financial year shall be the aggregate of the following -

(a) Any gift by one donor of the sum of at least $2,500 or such other sum as the Standing Committee may by resolution have last determined for the purpose of expenditure on buildings, the purchase of land or reduction of debt thereon or towards the cost of a specific article for use in any building (being church trust property) within the parochial unit or the grounds thereof.

(b) Moneys received -

(i) for the purchase of a site for a new centre of worship which, in the opinion of the Archbishop-in-Council, is desirable;

(ii) for the erection thereon of a building for divine worship; or

(iii) for the liquidation of any debt incurred on or in connection with such land and building.

Provided that the maximum amount allowable under this paragraph in respect of a particular site or improvements thereon or debt incurred on or in connection therewith shall be $70,000 or such greater amount as the Standing Committee may by resolution have approved in relation to a particular site or building Provided Further that moneys received after 7 years from the date the site was purchased do not qualify for this deduction.

(c) Moneys received as designated donations by parishioners to organisations, bodies and societies outside the control of the parochial unit.

(d) Amounts paid to missionary societies and other extra parochial bodies.

(e) Amounts applied by way of poor relief.

(f) Amounts given to other parochial units.

(g) Donations made towards the support of any specific candidate in training for the ordained ministry of the Anglican Church of Australia, except where the donation was made from funds excluded from the gross receipts of a parochial unit.

(h) The amount of testimonials and gifts to clergy and lay workers from moneys given for the purpose of such testimonials and gifts.

(i) Amounts received solely or donated specifically for the purpose of restoring or repairing a church where -

(i) the total amount received during the financial year was not less than $1,500 or such other sum as the Standing Committee may by resolution have last determined;

(ii) the moneys were applied during the financial year in meeting the cost of restoring or repairing a church or the rector and churchwardens undertake, in writing, to ensure that the moneys will be so applied;

(iii) such church, in the opinion of the Standing Committee, is of major historical or architectural importance;

(iv) the erection of such church was substantially completed not less than 100 years prior to the financial year; and

(v) such church, in the opinion of the Standing Committee is a suitable place for contemporary worship and should be retained for this purpose.

(j) Moneys received other than pursuant to a policy of insurance for the reinstatement of a building totally or substantially destroyed by fire, flood, tempest or any other disaster, to such an extent as may be approved by the Standing Committee.

Provided that any application of capital assets made pursuant to an ordinance does not qualify as a deduction pursuant to this clause.

Annual Financial Returns

5. (1) The incumbent and churchwardens of each parochial unit shall forward to the Diocesan Secretary by the 15th day of April in every year a return in the form last prescribed by the Standing Committee by resolution thereof. Such return shall contain -

(a) a statement of gross receipts for the preceding financial year;

(b) a statement of allowable deductions for the preceding financial year; and

(c) such other information as may be required by ordinance or be requested by resolution of the Standing Committee.

(2) If a parochial unit fails to forward a return which complies with subclause (1) to the Diocesan Secretary on or before the 15th of April, the Standing Committee may estimate the gross receipts and the allowable deductions of that parochial unit for the preceding financial year and such estimate shall be deemed to be the actual gross receipts and the actual allowable deductions of that parochial unit for that financial year.

(3) If the Standing Committee considers that any return forwarded pursuant to subclause (1) is incomplete, it shall request the incumbent and churchwardens concerned to complete the same and, if they fail so to do within one month of such request, the Standing Committee may make such adjustment to the gross receipts and allowable deductions disclosed therein as it thinks fit and the gross receipts as adjusted and the allowable deductions as adjusted shall be deemed to be the gross receipts and the allowable deductions of the parochial unit concerned for the financial year to which the return relates.

(4) If the Standing Committee considers that the statement in any return forwarded pursuant to subclause (1) as to the gross receipts of a parochial unit for a financial year or as to the allowable deductions of that parochial unit for that financial year is inaccurate, it may correct the same provided that it thereafter gives notice of such correction to the incumbent and churchwardens concerned. Unless the incumbent and churchwardens, within 2 months of the Standing Committee giving such notice notify the Diocesan Secretary that they consider the change made by the Standing Committee is inconsistent with this Ordinance and give their reasons for that view, the gross receipts and the allowable deductions of the parochial unit for that financial year shall be the respective amounts after such correction has been made. If the incumbent and churchwardens so notify the Diocesan Secretary, a dispute shall be deemed to exist unless the same is resolved by agreement between the Standing Committee and the said incumbent and churchwardens made within 1 month of the date on which such notification is given.

Levying of Assessments and Charges

6. In any ordinance by which an assessment or charge is levied on parochial units the assessable receipts of a parochial unit for a financial year shall be the amount (if any) by which the gross receipts of the parochial unit for that financial year exceed the allowable deductions of the parochial unit for that financial year.

Part 2 - Assessments

Calculation of Assessments

6A. (1) Subject to clause 6B, in the year commencing 1st January, 1987 and in each year thereafter until 31 December 1999 each parochial unit shall pay an amount on its assessable receipts calculated in the manner set forth in the Schedule hereto.

(2) The Standing Committee in a draft ordinance by which an annual assessment is levied on parochial units for the ensuing year shall also propose to each ordinary annual session of Synod up to and including the 3rd ordinary session of the 44th Synod the rates or amounts in the said Schedule for adoption by Synod to apply in respect of the following respective year.

Applicability of Clause 6A

6B. The provisions of clause 6A shall apply except where an ordinance of the Synod which levies assessments or deals with the method by which such assessments shall be calculated otherwise provides.

7. .....

7A. .....

8. .....

Estimates to be Prepared for the Synod

9. (1) The Standing Committee shall prepare for each ordinary session of the Synod up to and including the 3rd ordinary session of the 44th Synod, in a proposed ordinance, estimates for the following financial year of -

(a) the amount required for meeting the cost of sittings of the Synod, the maintenance of the diocesan offices and the expenses of such other diocesan activities and commitments as, in the opinion of the Standing Committee, should be supported;

(b) the amount which, in the opinion of the Standing Committee, should be granted to organisations under the control of Synod or to other organisations;

(c) the amount of income available from endowments for meeting the amounts referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) hereof;

(d) the amount which will need to be raised by assessment to meet the said amounts.

(2) The Standing Committee shall distribute a copy of the proposed ordinance to all members of the Synod by post or otherwise not less than 14 days before the first day of that session.

(3) A reference in any ordinance to "registry and synod assessments under the provisions of the Registry and Synod Assessments Ordinance of 1895 as amended" or to "general assessments" shall be deemed to be a reference to an assessment raised to meet an amount described in paragraph (c) of subclause (1) hereof and a reference in any ordinance to "special purpose assessments" shall be deemed to be a reference to an assessment raised to meet an amount described in paragraph (b) of subclause (1) hereof.

Part 3 - Cost Recoveries Charge

Parochial Units to pay Cost Recoveries Charge

10. (1) For the year 2000, and each financial year thereafter, each parochial unit must pay a cost recoveries charge in respect of Ministry and Property Costs specified or determined in accordance with an ordinance referred to in clause 11.

(2) In this Part, "Ministry and Property Costs" means all costs, expenses, charges or contributions which, in the opinion of the Standing Committee, have been incurred or will be incurred on behalf of or in relation to a parochial unit or any member of the clergy licensed to a parochial unit and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes -

(a) the costs of effecting insurances under the Church Insurances Ordinance 1980 for parochial units and any officers or employees of parochial units;

(b) superannuation contributions for members of the clergy licensed to parochial units;

(c) costs and expenses of, or incidental to, the maintenance of stipend continuance insurance for members of the clergy licensed to parochial units;

(d) contributions to the fund established by the Sydney Diocesan Sickness and Accident Fund Ordinance 1969; and

(e) contributions for long service leave for members of the clergy licensed to parochial units.

Determination of Charge

11. (1) The Standing Committee must prepare for the second ordinary session of the 48th Synod and the second ordinary session of each Synod thereafter a proposed ordinance for adoption by the Synod which -

(a) specifies the cost recoveries charge in respect of Ministry and Property Costs to be paid by each parochial unit in each of the following 3 financial years, or the method or methods by which such charge may be determined by the Standing Committee; and

(b) authorises the Standing Committee to apply the cost recoveries charges paid by parochial units in a financial year toward the Ministry and Property Costs.

(2) The Standing Committee must arrange for the distribution of a copy of the proposed ordinance to all members of the Synod not less than 14 days before the first day of the session.

12. If, in relation to a financial year, the Standing Committee expects that the total of the cost recoveries charges to be received from parochial units will be insufficient to meet the total of the Ministry and Property Costs for that year, it may bring to the Synod an ordinance containing a proposal to meet that insufficiency.

Part 4 - Other Provisions

Payment of Assessments and Charges

13. All assessments or cost recovery charges imposed by or pursuant to an ordinance of Synod, unless the ordinance otherwise directs, shall be payable by 10 equal monthly instalments, the first due and payable on 1 March and subsequent instalments due and payable on the first day of each succeeding month.

Visit from Archdeacon if Assessment or Charge Not Paid

14. If a parochial unit has failed for any reason to pay any instalment of an assessment or charge for a period of 3 months after the due date then the following procedure shall apply. The Archdeacon of the area in which the parochial unit is situated will confer with the minister and churchwardens with a view to finding a solution to the situation in which assessments or charges have not been paid and shall report the result of such consultation to the Standing Committee.

Relief from Assessments and Charges

15. (1) In the years up to and including the year 1986 except where an ordinance of the Synod which imposes assessments otherwise provides -

(a) the assessment payable by a provisional parish shall be three-fourths of the amount which would have been payable had the provisional parish been a parish; and

(b) the assessment payable by a new housing district shall be one-half of the amount which would have been payable had the new housing district been a parish.

(2A) In any case where after the seventh day of October 1976 -

(a) 2 or more parochial units are amalgamated;

(b) a parochial unit is dissolved; or

(c) the area of a parochial unit is changed;

the Standing Committee may provide such relief from assessments and charges made thereafter as to the Standing Committee seems equitable in the circumstances.

(2B) In any other case where after the 7th day of October 1976 the status of a parochial unit is changed during a financial year the assessment and charge payable by the parochial unit for the remainder of that financial year shall be adjusted to the rate applicable to its new status.

(3) The Standing Committee shall have power to enter into an arrangement with a parochial unit for the payment of accumulated arrears of assessments and charges over a period of time.

(4) The Standing Committee is hereby authorised to remit the whole or any part of the arrears of assessments and charges owing by any parochial unit if it shall by resolution declare the circumstances which in its opinion make it expedient so to do.

(5) The Standing Committee shall report to the Synod on -

(a) all relief provided under this clause; and

(b) all remissions made under this clause.

Control of Expenditure

16. The Standing Committee shall have control of all expenditure on account of the Diocesan Registry and of the Synod in all cases where such control has not been exercised by Synod itself and shall be responsible for collecting all moneys assessed or charged and for distributing and applying the same.

Delegation

17. The Standing Committee is hereby authorised to delegate all or any of its powers under this Ordinance to a committee appointed by the Standing Committee.

Settlement of Disputes

18. If a dispute arises as to the meaning or application of this Ordinance the dispute shall be determined by the Chancellor of the Diocese or by some person appointed by him and the decision of the Chancellor or that person shall be final and binding on the parties involved.

Schedule

A. In respect of each year there shall be payable by each parish a basic assessment being a percentage rate determined by ordinance of Synod in each year of its assessable receipts (herein to be known as "the assessment rate") Provided That a rebate in a sum determined by ordinance of Synod in each year shall be deducted therefrom (herein to be known as "a parish rebate") Provided Further that there shall be a minimum assessment payable by all parishes in a sum determined by ordinance of Synod in each year (herein to be known as "the minimum assessment").

B. In respect of each provisional parish the aforesaid provisions shall apply except that in substitution for the parish rebate there shall be deducted from the assessment rate a rebate to be determined by ordinance of Synod in each year (herein to be known as "the provisional parish rebate").

C. ......

D. Such assessment rate, parish rebate and provisional parish rebate and minimum assessment shall be so determined by ordinance at each ordinary session of Synod immediately preceding the respective year in which the assessment shall be payable.

Table of Amendments

MARTIN THEARLE	ROBERT WICKS
Manager, Diocesan and Policy Services	Diocesan Secretary
1 September 2008

BACK TO TOP