At Monday’s statutory meeting, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown took the decision to raise the compliance certificate fee from 0.1 per cent to 0.75 per cent of the property value. The decision to increase the fee comes after the M&CC would have seen an influx of persons applying for compliance certificates.
The new fee increase comes into effect on January 1, 2018. The Finance Committee in its report noted that the Council is currently supplying persons with these certificates in order to facilitate property sales at prices that do not take into account the costs attached to the preparation of the document. The decision to increase the fee was not unanimous since some of the Councillors felt that the increase was too steep and suggested a 0.25 per cent instead of the 0.75 per cent but when it came to the vote, that was defeated. 
For years the M&CC has been complaining that it is financially strapped, often resulting in the late payment of salaries and wages in addition to the non-payment of contractors. Mayor Patricia Chase Green said the revenue base of City Hall needs to be broadened and as a result, the rise in fees are justified.
She quite often states that the City have been collecting the same amount of money since 1992 which is not enough to offset its expenses.
