Region Six Chairman blasts 100% increase in rates and taxes at N/A

Feb 09, 2018 News

Region Six Chairman, David Armogan

The New Amsterdam Town Council has come in for heavy criticism by the Region Six Chairman, David Armogan. It follows the implementation of an increase of 100% in rates and taxes by the council.
“It is bad for business,” said Armogan, during a press briefing at his office at the Regional Democratic Council in New Amsterdam.
He argued that the increase, which has been effective since January 1, is a decision that could have crippling effects in the township.
“If you want to increase, you have to look at it gradually; you have to look at it based on the economic circumstances of the people who have to pay these rates and taxes.”
It was also disclosed by Armogan that no public consultation was done with residents and with an already evident decrease in sales by 30% since the closure of the estate, the move to have such an increase is uncalled for. He added that an increase in taxes would ultimately mean an increase in the price of products being sold within the township.
“Now you’re asking people in the business community to double up… 100% increase on the taxes, they are already paying high taxes. Businesses are doing badly at present, and to be taxing them more now is unfair. You used to pay $100,000 now you have to pay $200,000 to the town council,” Armogan lamented.
He further explained that the council is currently collecting less that 50% (of persons’ rates and taxes) in New Amsterdam. This, he noted, is penalizing people who are already paying.
Additionally, Armogan opined that the town council should have considered going after persons who were not paying their rates and taxes. He took a further jab at the council after he disclosed that “they do not offer any particular service to the people in this town, most people are paying a private garbage collector to pick up their garbage, and the drainage situation hasn’t really improved and if you see some improvements now it’s because of a small excavator that the region has given to the New Amsterdam Town Council.

The New Amsterdam Town Council

“The road work is being done by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure; the development of the park that you are seeing is done by the Ministry of Communities. I don’t know what they will be doing with this 100% increase, because we are not seeing any improvements on these services that are being offered by the New Amsterdam Town Council”.
He chided the move by the council as a revenue generation initiative that could do more harm than good. He also called on the Minister of Communities to intervene.
In addition to the increase, Armogan pointed out that the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) was written to by the Town Council recently. The letter detailed that if the RDC wishes to carry out works within the township, a proposal must be submitted to the Mayor. This, Armogan said, will hinder “important and necessary work to be done within the township in a timely manner, or even at all. We got to go through all these paperwork then the year comes to an end and the budget is gone, we want people to understand that they are putting in now additional work on the region”.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of New Amsterdam, Winifred Haywood during a telephone conversation in response to a question laid out on whether public consultations were done prior to the implementation of the 100% increase, said that the increase was discussed twice at council level in the presence of the media. It was also disclosed by Haywood that a meeting would be held with the business community on the increase.
In relation to the letter the council has written the RDC, Haywood said that “it was being done in the past but had stopped. We want to have the region include the council in the loop with regard to works being carried out in the town”.