APNU’s M&CC councilors seek to remove, reduce political parties’ rates & taxes

The Georgetown Mayor & City Council (M&CC) on Monday passed an ‘Institutional Rate Policy’ that seeks to exempt political parties from paying rates and taxes, or reducing those sums.
According to the document seen by this publication, the council, led by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), is looking to affix this benefit to any property titled to a political party, once that party has been in existence for two or more years.
According to People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) councillor Don Singh, this provision would benefit only the APNU, which owes between $250M and $300M in rates and taxes. He said the policy is “hastily put together, without any justification”, as he questioned, “Why reducing political parties’ [taxes] when you running others down for rates and taxes?”
Singh believes this move is a direct result of the Government’s discontinuation of the amnesty period this year. The amnesty period implemented previously allowed businesses to pay their taxes without the accompanying interests for late payments.
The document has classified political parties in existence for more than ten years as “social and welfare institutions”, allowing them to be exempted from paying rates and taxes, or at least reclassifying those rates to “institutional rates” under the Municipal and District Council’s Act.
Notably, the Municipal and District Council Act, section 214, states that: A council shall have power to exempt from liability to pay rates either wholly or in part…[for] any property used for the advancement of religion, education or social welfare, not with a view to profit.
The law also covers facilities used for sports and health institutions, while leaving the power to the Minister of Local Government to designate any other property for exemption.
During his weekly programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday evening, Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, criticised the council’s move.
“I have not seen in recent times a more vulgar and shameless act,” he said, noting that the council is already cash-strapped and should therefore seek to collect all outstanding debts.
“The Georgetown Mayor & City Council (M&CC) cannot even afford to pick up the garbage from the residents of Georgetown without a subvention from the Government. They cannot repair their home, which is the City Hall, without a subvention from the Government. They cannot discharge most of their duties without a subvention,” he decried.
As councillors join the criticism of the current cost of living, Nandlall said, the reduction or exemption of rates and taxes should be directed to the less fortunate, instead of political parties.
“They are not interested in reducing rates and taxes for poor people…whose cause they claim to champion, but they want to reduce rates and taxes for political parties,” he said.
Nandlall said the move by the M&CC is the opposite of promoting transparency and accountability.
The document outlined Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for implementation of the ‘Institutional Rate Policy.’ The policy needs to be approved by the Local Government Commission (LGC) and the Ministry of Local Government.