Trelawny surpasses target for property tax collection

WESTERN BUREAU

The Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC) has exceeded its projected property tax revenue by $17M for the financial year 2022 to 2023 its chief executive officer (CEO) Wayne Palmer has confirmed.

“Our target for the year ending March 2023 was $361 million. We have exceeded that by $17 million. What this means going forward is that the 2024 target will see an increase,” said Palmer.

“I have not gotten the target as yet, but I expect an increase in the projected target for 2023 to 2024,” Palmer said.

The Council’s exec was full of praise for the TMC’s six compliance officers, whose team working efforts allowed them to strategise to cover more areas and reach more taxpayers.

“They work as a team going throughout the parish, encouraging residents to pay their property taxes. The officers are assigned to different sections of the parish. The team includes an officer who deals with the in-house compilation of data,” Palmer stated.

According to him, where residents are delinquent, the officer works with them, handles and works out payment plans, serves summonses, and attends court when residents are taken before the resident magistrate.

“The result is seen by the amount of money collected,” said Palmer.

Ten years ago, the property tax target for Trelawny was $82 million. Since then, five new housing developments have been added to the parish’s housing stock. The addition has created a wider property tax collection net.

Councillor Garth Wilkinson, who is a former mayor of Falmouth, said it is unlikely that residents will benefit outside of the established structures for their compliance.

“The $381 million collected comes into the municipality and then goes back out in payment for street lighting and garbage collection. Only a small percentage stays with the municipality,” explained Wilkinson.