The Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown have instituted legal action against several defaulting ratepayers who collectively owe the council in excess of $2B.
This is according to Town Clerk Royston King who told Stabroek News yesterday that this move is an attempt by the council to generate revenue which will be used “to maintain the high quality of services currently being offered to residents of the city.”
Included in the “mostly businessmen” against whom action has been taken are the new owners of Hotel Tower Limited. These persons owe the council in excess of $11M.
Also included are the owners of Ashmin Trading Company which owes the council $7M, Ocean View International which owes over $73M and the Georgetown Fisherman’s Co-op Society which is indebted to the city for a whopping $173M.
According to documents seen by Stabroek News these sums are accurate as of January 21, 2014.
This move follows repeated declarations from the M&CC that it will be taking a “hard line” against defaulters at the end of a rate amnesty offered last year.
On September 1, 2015, the M&CC began offering property owners of Georgetown an amnesty on the interest accumulated on property rates owed to the council. The amnesty which was originally offered from the 1st to the 30th of September was extended twice, first to October 31 and later to November 30, 2015. It provided those who are in arrears with the M&CC an opportunity to clear their debt. Under the amnesty, residential property owners were offered a 100% waiver on the interest on the rates they owe to the council while commercial and corporate property owners were offered a 50% to 75% amnesty dependent on special circumstances.
According to Councillor Junior Garret of the council’s Finance Committee, the three-month amnesty generated for the council in excess of $561M of revenue.
The persons and entities who have been named in the case are according to King, “those which made no effort to take advantage of the offered amnesty or to respond in any positive manner to attempts by the council to recover revenue owed.”
“We are doing a lot of work in the city and we need every cent to continue,’ King said.
