St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft has been left to fight for his parish’s slice of the rates bill alone as the Constables’ Committee have written to Treasury Minister Alan Maclean to say they are not supportive of the plans. They have also raised concerns about the way in which the money would be handed over.
Last year, Mr Crowcroft’s bid to make the States start paying rates on its properties in 2017 was blocked at the eleventh hour after Members raised technical concerns about the proposition, including over whether rateable properties might include main roads.
St Helier would stand to be the main beneficiary of the States paying rates – receiving over £600,000. St Brelade and St Saviour would also receive substantial amounts.
A proposition, also lodged by Mr Crowcroft, calling for Treasury Minister Alan Maclean to bring forward proposals for parish rates to be paid by the States next year was approved by the States on 23 May.
However, a letter from St Clement Constable Len Norman on behalf of the committee, outlines several reasons why they oppose the plan.
These include that the proposals would not work unless the States also committed to paying the Islandwide rate and that previous States debates on the issue have ‘not been well informed’.
Mr Crowcroft said that he was ‘struggling to find the logic’ as to why the other parish Constables were dismissing the plans.
He said: ‘They seem to be in denial that the principles have been approved by the States. It was a central plank of the Strategic Plan [which outlines government policy] and was included in the Medium Term Financial Plan and a provision for this was made in the Budget last year.
‘I think the rate payers in other parishes would not be happy if only St Helier got money from the States paying rates. The money could be put towards reducing rates for parishioners or to parish-improvement projects.’
Mr Crowcroft has lodged another proposition calling for the £900,000 budget surplus left by the failed attempt to make the States pay rates last year to be allocated to the parishes on a pro-rata basis. This is due to be debated on Tuesday 31 October.
