( L - R ) Seivwright, Little-white

WESTERN BUREAU:

Colin Gager, mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the Trelawny Parish Council, has said delinquent property taxpayers are preventing the council from providing some basic services to citizens of the parish.

"Last year, we collected $17 million for property taxes when we should have collected $90-something million," he explained.

"We have to put things in place, so we are employing two people at the tax office in Falmouth and we are doing the same for Jackson Town. One of the persons will be going out in the vehicle to serve notices," the mayor added.

He made his comments during a Gleaner Editors' Forum last Thursday in Trelawny following complaints made by Lennie Little-White, operator of the Outameni Experience attraction in Falmouth, that state agencies such as the council were not accommodating to attraction owners.

No avail

Little-White had stated that he had applied to the relevant agencies several months ago for street lights to be erected along the roadway leading to his attraction, but to no avail.

But Gager said the delay was as a result of landowners failing to pay their property taxes. The mayor pointed out that the council had begun to implement measures to ensure delinquent property owners complied.

"We have already for this year collected $35 million, so we are trying to move up. If people pay their property taxes, then we will be able to do more. Unfortunately though, some of the landowners aren't paying property taxes. Some we have to be hunting down and I can tell you, we will be hunting them," he added.

Statistics from the Department of Local Government in the Office of the Prime Minister reveal that Trelawny had the worst rate of property tax compliance in the island during the last fiscal year.

Property tax is paid by all property owners except the Government of Jamaica and select organisations such as churches.

Revenue from property taxes is placed in a special account known as the Parochial Revenue Fund, which funds solid-waste collection, street lights, community infrastructure and civic improvements, fire-station repairs and rehabilitation of the parochial road network.