Around 50 Caroni residents passed a resolution to fight the Government’s increases on property taxes and to unite with any other community with the same goal.

More residents are expected to join the Caroni Assembly of Villagers in protesting the new property tax measures announced three weeks ago by Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira in the 2009-2010 Budget presentation.

The new tax rates charge three per cent of the annual rentable value (ARV) of residential properties, five per cent for commercial properties, six per cent for industrial and one per cent for agricultural land, the Ministry said.

After owners receive their bills in the mail, they will have from March 31 to September 15, 2010, to pay their taxes without incurring a penalty.

Tuesday’s meeting, which was organised by the Congress of the People (COP), featured as panellists COP Deputy Leader Prakash Ramadhar; attorney and former head of the Public Services Association (PSA) Clyde Weatherhead; head of the Islamic Broadcasting Network (IBN) Inshan Ishmael; former diplomat and Caroni resident Stephen Kangal; and Sunil Ramjitsingh, for Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner.

In addition to finding the new taxation system ’unfair’ and ’suspect in its origin’, the residents were primarily concerned with the quality of the valuations that will be made on their properties. The State is currently training a new team of valuers to enable the new laws, and several people told the Express they are afraid of inefficiency and political bias.

’These people are being rushed through a training programme. How do we know that they are ready to assess people’s properties?’ one resident asked.

’They may also be trained to victimise anyone who is not seen as a friend to the ruling party. We in this village are in an Opposition area. How do we know that our properties will not be overestimated on purpose?’

Residents were also concerned that broad zoning methods of assessing properties could result in ’lower income families paying the same as wealthy neighbours’.

The resolution calls upon President of the Senate Danny Montano to have the residents’ petition/resolution read out in the Senate as a Civic Society Petition during the proceedings of the debate on the budget or immediately thereafter. It also appeals to the Independent Senators to use their controlling vote to prevent the adoption of the Property Tax proposal and to have the proposal expunged from the budget and be referred for consideration by a Joint Select Committee of Parliament.