With countrywide property valuations on the horizon, People’s Progressive Party General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has promised that no increases in rates would be implemented in areas his party wins at the Local Government Elections (LGE).
PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo
Jagdeo made this announcement at a press conference he held with PPP candidates from across the country. His commitment would correlate with Government promising that rate hikes would be up to local officials after the valuations are over.
The PPP General Secretary was critical of the exercise and the fact that it would result in more burden on the taxpayer. He pointed out that Central Government has already been collecting increased taxes from the populace.
“We have been in opposition to increasing the rates and taxes across the country. We believe this government has increased too many taxes. So, we are opposed to any new burden on people’s backs. There is a surreptitious move on the part of this government to increase valuations.
Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan
“They’ve hired a company from abroad to do this countrywide evaluation,” Jagdeo observed. “There can be only one purpose to this. To increase valuation of property means your taxes are going up. Any area the PPP wins, we will not increase rates and taxes, because that’s a local issue. So people who vote APNU will be voting to increase their taxes.”
Romel Roopnarine, representative of the Herstelling, Little Diamond area, noted that there were fears about the impending valuation of properties, particularly on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD).
He noted that this fear was especially pervasive in the newly-created housing schemes. In addition, he noted that residents were concerned about overlooked services to their communities.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, a Canadian firm, was contracted by the Government for approximately $330 million to assist with the exercise. The project is expected to last until next year.
The initiative was supposed to review existing property rate structures, to raise more money at the regional level. According to Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan in a recent interview with the media, work on the contract will conclude in 2019.
Besides the valuations and revaluations, Bulkan noted that the project would also produce an inventory of properties. Bulkan hailed this as an opportunity for councils to be less dependent on Central Government.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation does property evaluations for the state of Ontario and other jurisdictions. Its work spans Canada and other countries. It was only last year that City Hall announced that property rates would go up by 10 per cent.
