St Helier - you're on your own!

Thursday 28 September 2017

Plans to force the States to pay rates on public buildings have taken a hammering, with 11 of the 12 parish constables now vetoing the idea - leaving St Helier as the only one in favour.

A leaked letter shows St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft has been left isolated by his colleagues who have all told the Treasury that they don't want the States to pay rates on certain public properties in their parishes, even though it could reduce the bill for other parishioners.

After more than 20 years of discussions, the States finally accepted that they should pay rates on public buildings during a budget debate last year.

St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft has since pushed for the Council of Ministers to turn that approval into action.

Given that the majority of public buildings – including schools, hospitals and government offices – are in town, the Parish of St Helier stands to gain the most from such a proposal, but it would also see a cash injection into other parishes.

But those 11 other parishes have refused to support the St Helier Constable in his mission.

Pictured: Constable Simon Crowcroft will not be supported by the 11 other parish Constables in seeking the States to pay rates.

In a leaked letter, the Constables’ Committee told Treasury Minister Alan Maclean: “The land and property owned or occupied by the States which remains exempt from rates relates mainly to administrative offices including the States Chamber and Royal Court, to health and to education premises and the majority of the Connétables are of the opinion that these should not be rated.

“It would be fair to summarise that, with the exception of the Connétable of St Helier, the Connétables are not supportive of the revised proposals.”

The Constable had recently suggested that, if Parishes are not to be paid rates by the States this year, then they should be offered one-off lump sums by the States instead. But the Constables Committee - represented in writing by Chairman and St Clement Constable Len Norman – said that this would not be of any material benefit to the parishes. 

Pictured: The letter sent from the Comité des Connétables to Treasury Minister Senator Alan Maclean.

The lump sum payment, he explained, would simply offset the burden on ratepayers, which might mean that their rates go down, rather than the parish having any extra money to spend.

While that could mean parishioners paying lower rates, the Constables argue that this could increase the tax burden on them instead, as the States would have to use taxpayer-generated revenue to pay rates.

They added that taxpayers would also be expected to fund the necessary changes to computer systems to process the change.

The move appears to represent a U-turn for at least nine of the Parish constables who voted in favour of the Constable’s plan to make the Treasury Minister bring forward rate-paying proposals by 2018. 

While that idea received the support of 39 States members overall – including the Council of Ministers – the whole idea could be left in tatters without the crucial support of the parishes’ most senior representatives.