Condominium fee
coming early 2008
PHILIPSBURG--The Island Government plans to introduce a “condominium fee” early next year, Finance Commissioner Roy Marlin announced Friday.
The proposed fee is the only new source of revenue the government intends to tap in 2008, Marlin told a press briefing at which he announced details of the draft 2008 budget.
The Commissioner also told The Daily Herald the Executive Council intended to present the final proposal on the condominium fee to the Island Council for approval in the first quarter of 2008.
“The Executive Council has already discussed a first draft proposal which has been sent back to the Legal Affairs Department for amendments. After the changes have been made, the Executive Council together with the Economic Affairs Department will discuss the proposals with all stakeholders,” Marlin said.
He did not want to go into further details, as the proposal was still in draft. A number of other projected income sources such as garbage collection fee, increase in road tax and a school bus transportation fee have been eliminated from the 2008 budget.
Instead of introducing these types of fees, the Executive Council has sent a letter to Finance Minister Ersilia de Lannooy requesting an increase in the Turnover Tax (TOT) by one per cent, taking it from three per cent to four per cent.
The increase is to secure the funding of additional expenditures in 2008 in connection with infrastructural improvement, tourism marketing, social programmes for the youth, additional subsidies in connection with housing, educational purposes, matching funds in connection with the Social Economic Initiative (SEI) programmes and constitutional changes.
The Executive Council believes an increase of the TOT is a more justified revenue-generating measure, as this one per cent TOT increase is an indirect tax and is spread evenly among all residents and visitors to the island, Marlin stated.
He will travel to Curaçao on November 29 to meet with the Minister to discuss the proposed one per cent increase of the TOT.
The draft 2008 budget that has been forwarded to the Central Committee of the Island Council shows a projected total income and expenditure of NAf. 314,953,818. This includes NAf. 44,777,667 made available through Dutch funding agency USONA and programmes such as those linked to the SEI.
The largest source of income in the draft 2008 budget is wage taxes, projected at NAf. 116 million.
The increased cost of the 2008 draft budget amounts to approximately NAf. 25 million, mainly associated with government expanding its responsibilities in areas that needed addressing.
