THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has said it has extended its interest-free rates amnesty to October 31, 2015, because of the overwhelming public response .This gives commercial and residential property owners a second chance to settle their accounts without having to pay interest, given that the initiative, which initially started on September 1, 2015 was slated to run until the end of last month.
Town Clerk Royston King in a comment to this newspaper earlier this week, said: “We have received a very good response from property owners, as, even though we are waiving the interest, some property owners could not have managed the demand within the time frame.”

Moreover, he said because the M&CC understands what is going on in the economy, the decision was taken to give property owners another opportunity to come in and settle their accounts as soon as possible.

When it was announced earlier that an amnesty for defaulting taxpayers was being granted to afford them an opportunity to pay their rates and taxes interest-free, residential property owners were offered a 100% amnesty on interest accrued, while commercial property owners were required to apply for a review by an amnesty panel, before securing between 50-75% amnesty on the interest accrued.

All property owners are being encouraged to take advantage of this deal and settle their accounts, so that the City Council could obtain financing to pursue a number of plans currently in the pipeline. Over the years, persons have been withholding payment of their rates and taxes, causing the M&CC to stall projects while finding difficulty in executing routine activities. (Navendra Seoraj)