Mayor wants Chaguanas to be test piece for property tax collection

“With the impending Local Government reform and the collection of the property tax, we in Chaguanas would like to see a pilot project launched in Chaguanas, a lot of money is being collected from the property tax and it should be used to redound to the benefit of our burgess,” Boodhan said, adding, “through this initiative we at the borough corporation can have more autonomy which would be of greater benefit to the Chaguanas community.” He said the monies could be used for garbage collections, the rehabilitation of roads and drains and other minor infrastructure projects, including traffic management and social programmes.

Boodhan was delivering opening remarks at the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry & Commerce, [CCIC] post Budget Public Discussion, titled “Maintaining Economic Stability and Sustainability”, at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation Auditorium, Cumberbatch Street, Chaguanas on Wednesday night. He said a number of people had voiced concerns regarding the reimplementation of the property tax as certain areas could pay lower property taxes due to security concerns.

“A prime example is Enterprise where they have good homes, but the properties have smaller rental values compared to other areas because of the stigma of crime,” he said.

“As a result there are several challenges that the Government needs to address providing a public explanation and information regarding the plans and actions and also as it relates to the property tax,” he said.

Boodhan once again made a pitch for the strengthening of the borough’s municipal police officers be increased by 25 additional officers as this would assist in traffic management, street vending and information gathering to assist the TTPS.

“Government documented policy that every municipality should have 100 municipal police officers, we in Chagaunas we are asking for, give us at this point in time, give us a quarter of that allocation, if we can have it now, that would improve our community as it relates to the work of the Trinidad and Tobago police in gathering information, traffic management, street vending,” he said.