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Claudienne EdwardsThursday, September 12, 2013APPROXIMATELY 66 per cent of the 286 applications made to the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation for discretionary property tax relief since April 1 are incomplete, Kingston Mayor Angela Brown Burke has disclosed.Mayor Brown Burke told Tuesday’s council meeting that since the new property tax increases took effect, only 97 of the applications have met the stipulated requirements. She said the KSAC has since contacted 148 of the affected individuals to request the additional information needed.“Let me remind individuals to make sure the following is properly filled out on the form: valuation number of property, tax payable and age of applicant. Please be mindlful also that the application form must be signed by the applicant and documentary proof of income provided,” the mayor said.She said that parish review committees have been reactivated to deal with the applications for special discretionary relief, particularly for seniors, pensioners and people with fixed incomes who are experiencing hardship.Meanwhile, investigations have been completed for 41 of the 97 applications that met the requirements and 20 have been placed before the committee for consideration. To date, only four applicants have been granted relief, the mayor said.Meanwhile, Brown Burke said that the number of traders licensing their businesses has increased significantly since the council’s trade licence drive started in 2011.“Last fiscal year, we were only able to collect $4.6 million up to the end of July. This is a whopping 87 per cent increase over the corresponding period,” she said.She said that the name-and-shame phase of the campaign would be starting soon.“Note that very soon we will be publishing the names of those traders who have so far refused to live up to their statutory obligations,” the mayor warned.BROWN BURKE… our aim is to improve efficiency and effectiveness
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Incomplete applications hampering KSAC"s property tax relief programe
