THE JAMAICA Labour Party yesterday called for the cancellation of planned increases in property taxes for the 2002/2003 fiscal year.
Audley Shaw, the party's spokesman on Finance, said the system used to revalue properties was flawed and attempts to make adjustments to it have led to mass confusion.
"The assessments must be withdrawn and the system used to revalue properties be subject to rigorous review to ensure that the assessment of the value of every parcel of land is in line with its present market value," Mr. Shaw said.
He slammed suggestions by Arnold Bertram, the Local Government Minister, that property owners should pay the average rate in their respective property band.
In some cases, property values have increased by as much as 20 times over the last decade, according to the revaluation carried out by the National Land Agency. The revaluation, which was completed in June, showed the total value of the 680,000 properties moving from $76.4 billion to $524 billion.
It is these values which have been used in determining the new property taxes. However, the system has led to much confusion, with many property owners complaining that their taxes are excessive.
Mr. Bertram, however, told the House on Wednesday, that property owners should disregard the tax shown on their assessment notices now being sent out and instead pay the average tax of the property band in which they fall.
Properties have been grouped into 11 bands. At the lowest level, properties valued at up to $200,000 attract a flat tax of $600 per annum. At the mid-range, properties that fall in the $1 million to $2.5 million category attract an average tax of $4,000 while properties at the highest level, which are valued at $200 million and more, face an average tax of $3 million per annum.
Yesterday Mr. Shaw said that a random sampling of real market values of land showed that the assessment done by the National Land Agency put lands above their true market rates.
He added that the Government had created confusion by failing to do the necessary due diligence work to ensure a fair and equitable system of property tax assessment.
Mr. Shaw accused Mr. Bertram of failing to honour a commitment he gave to Parliament two months ago to disclose the system used to determine the property values.
"The minister must now abandon the tax increases for this year, withdraw the assessments and go back to the drawing board to arrive at a formula that acknowledge the true market value of land...," Mr. Shaw said.
