M&CC offers amnesty on property rates

Georgetown: The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has announced an amnesty on interest on property rates to all property owners in the City of Georgetown. This facility will begin on November 15 and ends on November 30, 2016. Acting M&CC Public Relations Officer, Debra Lewis said the amnesty provides a great window of opportunity for defaulters to settle their outstanding accounts with the Council. Simultaneously, she said it allows the municipality to recover large amounts owed to the Council for many years. These sums, she said are urgently needed to sustain works in the City, including drainage, road repairs, cleaning and greening of parks, gardens and open spaces, garbage collection and disposal, enforcement of compliance to by-laws and building codes and public health and environmental services, in all local communities. “Council is urging all property-owners, particularly those who have been defaulting on payment of their rates, to make optimum use of this limited facility and liquidate their debts, at the City treasury,” Lewis said. According to a report by the City Treasurer, Council is owed about $22B in outstanding property rates by property owners in the City. “Council hopes to recover a substantial portion of that amount during this period,” she said.