The Mayor and City Council will be moving to prosecute non-compliant taxpayers as it strives to recover the
City Hall
more than $2 billion it is owed.
In a telephone interview with Guyana Times on Tuesday, Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase Green said that indeed the Town Clerk, Royston King would be taking legal action against the defaulters.
It was revealed earlier this year that over 400 businesses have been delinquent in their tax payment to City Hall.
Last week, the Council had disclosed that it was owed more than $2 billion in property taxes. M&CC Public Relations Officer Debra Lewis explained that this sum has accumulated over long periods of time since persons have blatantly disregarded the law.
On Tuesday, the Mayor said that adequate measures were put in place to foster a smooth system that was encouraging to these individuals to come forward and pay their taxes. She added that fewer than a hundred of those who owed monies came forward to settle their accounts. Additionally, the Mayor said that the “amnesty programme” which involves the waiver of interest on amounts owed was still in effect and urged persons to utilise this option during this period.
Companies and businesses must apply to the Council for a 50 per cent to 75 per cent amnesty on tax interest.
In a statement last week, PRO Lewis had signalled that the Council intended to pursue all legal options available to the municipality through the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01. This, she said, would include “parate execution”, which is a debt recovery process under the law.
This procedure is special to banks as it allows the resale of property mortgaged to the bank. The mortgage is organised without going through court proceedings and the institution itself is given the power to hold an auction for the sale of the property by the appointed auctioneer.
