Government wants garbage fees despite duty increase

| 05/01/2010

Cayman Islands News, Grand Cayman local news, Mount Trashmore(CNS): Home and business owners will still have to pay their garbage fees for the first half of 2010 despite the increase in duty on imported goods imposed from 4 January. Although government announced during the 2009/10 budget debate that these fees would be eliminated as a result of the duty increase, it won’t happen until the start of the new 2010/11 fiscal year. A statement from the Financial Secretary’s Office on Monday answered questions raised by CNS commenters about receiving bills for 2010 following the change in policy. (Left: Mount Trashmore – the George Town landfill)

“To achieve better cost-recovery and collection, government decided to increase import duty rates during its current financial year that will end on 30 June 2010,” officials from the office stated. “As a result of the increased import duty rates that came into effect this month, the government will realise six months of additional revenue from these enhanced rates this financial year – which is insufficient to cover the cost of garbage collection. To move closer to covering the cost of garbage collection in thisfinancial year, it is necessary to continue the usual six-month garbage collection billing and at the same time, carry-out the implementation of increased import duty rates.”

In other words, for the last part of the financial year tax payers will be paying twice. The office said that in the next financial year (2010/2011), which will automatically carry a full year of revenue from the import duties introduced in January 2010, the garbage fees will be dropped.

“Effective 1July 2010 onwards, government intends to cease the usual six-monthly garbage fee billing and the collection from it,” officials added.

“The current January 2010 invoices will be the last direct invoices for garbage collection services.”

The office warned that if individuals or businesses remain in arrears for garbage fees which relate to current or prior period billings, they will still be responsible for ensuring that these outstanding fees are paid and these customers will continue to receive requests for the payment of outstanding amounts.

In the past garbage fees have been billed to residences and businesses every six months – in January and June each year. Each residential billing is $50 per six months for garbage collection and business rates vary according to the type and size of the business.

The FS’s office pointed out that the rates have remained unchanged since the 1990s. Moreover, the office stated that they are insufficient to cover the cost of garbage collection and not all those receiving garbage collection are paying towards the service.

The government hopes that as a result of the increase in revenue it hopes to gain from duty increases it will eventually cover the historic loss of revenue in connection with garbage collection.

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  1. Sole Provider says:

    How Duplicitous!

    This is just another bait and switch tactic to tax us into poverty.

    Message to CIG: "You cannot jumpstart an ailing economy by raising taxes in all sectors in the midst of a recession."

    Part of the justification of the duty increase was the fact that garbage fees were being done away with.

    Now, after the duty increase, Government still cant keep their grubby little hands off our money.

    While the term garbage fee may sound romantic to some,(after all, who could disagree with reducing Mt. Trashmore?) the Cayman Islands would be better served if govt made some hard decisions by cutting some of their lavish excesses such as their salary, lease the Turtle farm, Pedro and Cayman Airways do away with the hundreds of unnecessary blackberries, and cancel the chef for the primier. 

  2. Peter Milburn says:

    I dont agree with cutting out garbage fees as of July first(new budget year)The back fees should at least be attempted to be collected.As someone just said on here even a slight sacrifice on our daily habits would more than pay the fee(.28 cents a day I do believe).One beer a pack of cigarettes or something similar would help.Turn off your lites when not in the room and open your windows and get some fresh air in the house.Thats free folks!!!Cut down on a/c usage that will certainly make a big difference.

              Unfortunately there are some that would rather just dump it anywhere and have Govt have to pay someone else to clean it up.

  3. Anonymous says:

    This is one fee that I will gladly pay, and without grumbling. Garbage collection is a highly undervalued service and its true cost is many times more than the revenue it brings in. Also, I don’t believe that the entire increase in import duty is meant to go towards offsetting the loss of revenue from garbage fees in the second half of the year and from that point on. If you want to get an idea of the true cost of garbage collection, try taking your own garbage to the landfil twice per week for the rest of the year.

  4. Common Sense says:

    Add it in to the CUC or water bill. It’s the only way to get it paid. We ALL have to pay. No exceptions.

    Common sense prevails!

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes yes yes yes Yes!!!!!

      • Debt Collecter says:

        Did you just orgasm over a posted suggestion?

        We should be charging interest on all overdue amounts also.

        Forget publishing the names of the non-payers, engrave them on a wall in Heroes Square, along with those owing the HSA.

        Hell, that wall might be substantial enough to stop the flooding in the Savannah Gully.

        Just a thought

         

  5. Night Flyer says:

    Wow, what are you on ?

  6. Collect old fees says:

    Fee statements are often much in excess of $100.  CIG could easily introduce legislation for cost effective recovery of this charge and fees for previous years (ie provide that the payee must pay substantial costs).  But then that would require Caymanians to pay and this must be too much for the UDP.

  7. Anonymous says:

    We the average Caymanian with such small incomes cannot afford to pay the garbage fee. Politicians have to remember that our salarys is  not like theirs.

    • BS says:

      The garbage fee is 28 cents a day.

      • More BS says:

        But I also have to pay back the large loan on the fancy F140 I drive to my office job everyday and pay for all the fuel it guzzels.

      • Amen says:

        Which is less than 5 minutes chatting cr@p on your cell phone, or about 20% of that fat-bomb pattie unna shuvin’ in unna mout’.

        If you put a quarter and a nickel in a pot each day, you will more than cover it by the time the fee rolls around.  It is called financial planning – and lack of it is not an excuse to become a deadbeat.  Prioritise your spending, folks. 

  8. Anonymous says:

    Could this be the beginning of the sale of Mt. Thrashmore?  To whom I have to wonder? hmmmmmmm 

  9. StillgoingStrong says:

    People

     

    We have got ourselves into this economic mess! The UK with her policies, has also contributed to our dire situation!

    When will we realize that self-centeredness only ends up hurting others as well as ourselves! And money and power in the hands of an individual who always think about "me," will never do the world and this Island any good!  How can anyone "selfishly" pull the strings of our economy without burning themselves? What godliness is left within you when all you "see" is want?

    Oh Lord, if they would but "see" more to life than themselves, they would see God looking back at them, the families that will now have to pay duties and fees, the hungry children, and a strain life of our community!

    But they from the UK, in our government and the governments of the world, have failed to see, caught up with their financial projections, internal complaints, and those people they either hate or envy, because of what they have. Caymanians against Caymanians, bribed by foreignors, caught up in their vain imaginations. And yet this mirage of wealth is going no where pass the grave. Don’t we all have to go there someday?

    The whole cause of the Global Recession, is the weakness of human nature and greed, which no doubt, has slithered itself upon these shores. Yet, this evil is within us, because has anyone given God thanks for life lately! Has anyone ever been content with what they have!  And some don’t even have a roof over their heads because of the greed and indifference within governments and corporations that tek over the natural resources of people’s lands – the media has been paid to paint the stories so well. Has anyone been thankful with what they have now, and this world around us. Has anyone learn to accept the pains and sorrows which teaches us that we are human beings – all from one stem! Has anyone notice that the wars going on today is either for oil or some profiteering cause!  Is not this our own human nature, which will bring destruction upon the world? 

    The arguments you here in politics annually has never accomplish anything good or beneficial. Where can you find anything that is permanently good. And you see it all:  Fathers not home with their children, but in the bars drinking. Mothers caught up with television and talkshows. The children of the world and the UK, are being ignored. Abortions day and night! The children of the Cayman Islands – no time for them, because everybody has time for what technology has offered them. We swamp the stores and shops, but does anyone have time for the natural things God has offered them?  We see a rise in crime and violence. 

    The people fail to even "see" what is in front of them. You pass them by and like zombies in a rushing world, you hear not one "Good Morning." Lord, they are so lost in their own heads!  What have we become???

    Yet many prophets and messengers (like Ivan) have cried before us to awaken us, and many inhabitants have watched their Islands sunk into the sea of oblivion, because God, yousee, was seen as an image in churches only. Our own churches have lost their salt!  There is no balm for society! The churches have failed us, everyone of them!  We have put all our reliance on government to fix our problems! How sad!  We pray to God and what do we see in our own minds? An image of some white man, or, old grey haired man on a throne… What idolatry! Not even our prayes will ascend beyond the idolatry of our limited minds!  We have lost the true perspective of what God is?  For God is life!  

    And if we can’t learn to accept and appreciate all that life has offered us, and yet always grasping, grasping, grasping after what we can get, and doing harm to others in order to get, we will never have that connection like our forefathers use to have when there was very little technology. It will always be "the way to hell, paved" with socalled good intentions. 

    There is no surrender to God. The business man wears his suit and the woman her office attire, but do not see the nakedness behind it all!  Accepting life, you will accept people and love others as you would want them to love you. Your money would be used for good and necessity – not only for yourself, but more for others. The world is not "seeing" this!  And what has happened to the Caymanian so caught up with this fabricated society? We use to be innocent people, calm, serene in ourselves, and peaceful. Now, we have gadgets in all our homes to take our minds off God. We allow managers and supervisors to stress us out for what?!  What is this life when it is all over?  Tell me, what have we accomplish! Jesus said, "what profits a man if he shall gain the whole world, yet lose his own soul?" Where is universal love and understanding?

    How long will we point the finger and not look into ourselves and examine our hearts, oh Lord… and say, "aha… I found you and now, I will take care of you and love you!" If you cannot love yourself, how will you love others?  If you cannot find God in you, pleading for you to open your heart’s door, how will you find God in the world? The problem of our economy is not outside of us, it is within each one of us! "For the kingdom of God is within and outside of you"

    Lord… help us to see this or it will be too late… my two lost homes – the UK and the Cayman Islands…

    My beloved Cayman Islands