Dear Editor,
As a property owner and concerned resident of Georgetown, I write to state my considerable concern and at what I consider to be grossly unfair and unlawful practices being employed by the Tax Office of the Georgetown City Council.
I refer to the capricious granting of interest waivers to delinquent property owners who owe large amounts to the City Council due to the non payment of rates for several years, whilst those who may have been tardy for just a year or two, are made to pay every cent that is outstanding.
In the first instance, I describe it as unfair, because it certainly could not be considered just for persons of meagre means including pensioners, widows and persons working for small salaries to be forced to pay up their property rates on time or face the consequence of being charged large amounts of compound interest. Meanwhile, others many of whom can be considered quite affluent, and who do not pay their rates for years, opting instead to invest these amounts in business ventures and turning it over profitably before deciding to honour their obligations to council, are then rewarded with waivers of interest.
And in the second case I label it to be unlawful, simply because it is. Under the law, neither council nor any of its officers are authorized to grant waivers, but instead can merely grant a discount under special circumstances.
I have learnt via the press recently that a long overdue inspection will be done of council’s finance department with the help of the Auditor General’s office. Well this is more than welcome news. However the desired results would only be obtained if a very thorough investigation is done. This must include a detailed examination of each property owner’s account to verify the correctness of the data contained, including the assessed value, the principal and interest amounts charged, and if any waivers were granted, on what authority.
Years ago, from time to time, the council would grant amnesty to encourage defaulting ratepayers to bring their accounts up to date. However this has been stopped and apparently replaced by selective granting of interest waivers. Such a development can only lead to corruption and discrimination, with cronies of those working within the department benefiting.
If the council wishes to persuade more property owners to honour their financial obligation, they need to do what is necessary to develop the confidence of ratepayers, and this can only be done by putting in place capable and trustworthy financial managers.
Yours faithfully,
Reggie Johnson
