Jagdeo shuts down G/T Mayor talk of revaluation of city properties

…cites deliberate move to create unease, dissatisfaction ahead of 2025 elections

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has declared that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government will not support any moves by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to reevaluate properties in the city with the aim of collecting more rates and taxes.
At the M&CC statutory meeting on Tuesday, Georgetown Mayor Alfred Mentore had disclosed plans to request a meeting between Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and City Hall’s Valuation Division, to discuss the revaluation of properties in Georgetown, in a bid to earn more revenues for the cash-strapped City Council.
However, during his weekly press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo shut down this idea.
“Why would you want to do a revaluation of properties in Georgetown in this year? We have made it very clear that there will be no revaluation of any property which means higher taxes for people in Georgetown, or any other part of the country. So, I want the residents of Georgetown and across the country to know that there shall be no approval for any revaluation exercise… So, I’m making it clear that we will not approve any revaluation exercise for properties in the city or in any other part of the country for that matter. So, if they have approached the Ministry of Finance to have that done, then the answer will be no,” he declared.
Jagdeo, who is also the General Secretary of the ruling PPP, reminded that the Party had promised at previous Local Government Elections, while it was in Opposition, to not increase taxes at any of the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) or Town Councils – something which it intends to uphold.
He pointed out that if City Hall is bent on earning revenues, then it should go after the billions owed by some quarters, including the more than $6 billion in outstanding taxes for the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Congress Place headquarters. The leading Opposition party’s holding company, Maiwak, reportedly owes the city $6.7 billion in taxes.
“I’ve had some complaints from religious organisations in the city that they got demand notices that increased the payments significantly. I don’t know whether this is based on past taxes or conjecture, but some massive increases to particularly religious entities in the city for rates and taxes? Now, it’s commendable to want to collect your taxes, but you cannot do so in a partisan way…”
“They could fund two years of City Council expenditure from just collecting taxes from Congress Place. Congress Place owes $6.8 billion, and they just brushed that under the carpet and now, they’re going after religious organisations, etc. The People’s Progressive Party will not support this,” Jagdeo stressed.
During Tuesday’s statutory meeting, Mayor Mentore had reported that some 45 per cent of rates and tax payers in the city were delinquent, and noted that the M&CC would be moving to publish the names of all those property owners and businesses who have fallen behind on their payments.
The Georgetown Mayor also read from a proposed notice that the city would be publishing in the newspaper, as a first step, inviting persons to write City Hall for possible solutions to settle their outstanding debts.
But the Vice President dismissed this approach and cautioned persons against engaging in any such negotiations.
“That is a recipe for corruption, because if you can go in and negotiate a particular deal then based on previous experience, people walk away with different deals from the City Council on the basis of how much bribe they had to pay to some of the leaders there… So, I would urge the citizens of Georgetown not to go in there and negotiate any payment directly with the Mayor or his officers that he may assign to do so… And I urge people not to pay bribes to people in the City Council who may try to extort them,” Jagdeo noted.
According to the Vice President, while this move might seem like an innocent gesture by City Hall to earn more through increased taxes, he believes it is a deliberate move to create “dissatisfaction” especially in an election year – something which he said is right out of the PNC’s playbook.
“I believe it’s a pernicious plot by APNU [A Partnership for National Unity] in collaboration with Mayor of Georgetown to create as much dissatisfaction among the people of Georgetown and to create unease in their minds. This is directly from the playbook of the PNC in the past… I believe this is part of a plot to create dissatisfaction in the city, because if you suddenly hear your taxes are gonna double, or people send you big demand notices, you may think it’s driven by the Government,” Jagdeo stated.
During Tuesday’s meeting, after Mentore read out his proposal and called for a vote, the motion was carried by a majority decision.
However, an exchange of words subsequently broke out between Mentore and PPP/C Councillor Don Singh.
The PPP/C Councillor questioned whether the Mayor would also be naming and shaming the PNCR holding company that owes City Hall billions in rates and taxes.
According to Mentore, the naming and shaming will be done across the board. The Georgetown Mayor assured the Council that “all of them will be part of this”.” This is across the board!”
Only last month, the Georgetown municipality announced that it would be pursuing the debt from the political party, after VP Jagdeo called on the Council to take decisive action amid a strike by city workers, who demanded salary increases – adding to the Council’s financial constraints.