Councillors Urged to Motivate Citizens to Pay Property Taxes

Councillors of the St. James Parish Council have been urged by Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Local Government Reform, Robert Montague, to play a greater role in motivating more citizens to pay their property taxes.
Observing that for the first three months of this financial year the parish collected some $96.6 million, a marked increase from the first three months of the last financial year’s collection of $66.9 million, Minister Montague said that the aim was to collect $215 million in property taxes this year.
“I am going to ask the chairman of the financial committee to increase the pressure on all councillors as they all have the need for more money in their respective divisions, so councillors should assist in the process of the collection of property taxes. If we could collect that amount or anything close, we would be well on the way in solving a lot of the financial problems that we have spoken about,” the State Minister stressed.
He was addressing representatives from the St. James Parish Council during a visit to that parish yesterday (July 15). The Minister and his team as well as representatives from the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) led by the Chief Executive Officer, Joan Gordon-Webley, toured western Parish Councils in order to update them on the Local Government Reform process.
According to recent statistics from the Office of the Prime Minister, St. James is in fourth place with 45 per cent in terms of its property tax compliance. The parish of Hanover is leading with over 61per cent compliance, with the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) in second place at approximately 54 per cent compliance.
Property taxes pay for street lights, garbage collection, rehabilitation of parochial roads and beautification of communities.