A CONSTABLE has committed to “evolving” the parish rates system.
Mike Jackson, chair of the Constables’ Committee, also admitted in the States that transparency and communication on how rates were calculated was “poor” and needed improvement.
Questioning came from Deputy Jonathan Renouf, who asked Mr Jackson about recent concerns regarding possible over-assessments in the allocation of quarters to Grouville properties.
Other Deputies, however, went on to ask him to commit to introducing an Islandwide assessment methodology to avoid unfairness and disparities between parishes.
Last week, former States Member Jennifer Bridge called for the “inequitable” and “opaque” parish rates assessment system to be scrapped in favour of one Islandwide model, after a freedom-of-information request revealed there were 12 different rates assessment methodologies. She wrote to Mr Jackson, asking him to explore this idea further.
Quarters – the unit of measurement used to assess the rateable value of each property – for different types of property vary, and some list different attributes and ways to calculate based on comparisons.
However, Mr Jackson maintained in yesterday’s sitting that there were not 12 different systems, but one Islandwide methodology – because “the use of the attributes of a property to assess rates is consistent throughout the Island”.
In response to Deputy Renouf’s question, he said: “The supervisory committee is working with the Connétable of Grouville in an endeavour to regularise any alleged historic disparities in rates assessment in Grouville with a view to encouraging and promoting uniformity throughout the Island.”
But Deputy Philip Ozouf said the concept of attributes was “seriously problematic” in relation to commercial rates, where economic value or rental value was not considered as part of calculations.
Mr Jackson said: “The Comité is conscious that we need to evolve our systems. We need to look ahead at how we can better develop and make fair, certainly the commercial side of, the assessments process. I’m prepared to commit to review that. We would be happy to meet anyone, and contribute to any evolution of the rates system as it is at present.”
Mr Jackson added: “The methodologies should be made available, and can be made available. We have been poor at making it available, and need to improve our communications on that.”
Miss Bridge, who spoke to the JEP last week about the rates system, previously said that if it was fair and equitable, Islanders should be able to put the attributes of their property into each methodology and get the same outcomes.
“But that’s not what happens,” she said. “None of us are rates experts, because it’s quite an opaque system and it would be useful for the parishes to explain to us how they do it and what their justification is for having 12 different systems.”
How rates are assessed – particularly in Miss Bridge’s parish of Grouville – has frequently been thrust into the spotlight.
Last October, three appeals by Grouville parishioners to the Island’s Rate Appeal Board were upheld, prompting Constable Mark Labey to ask Grouville’s assessment committee to scrutinise the allocation of quarters.
The successful appeals meant that the parish’s 2,300 ratepayers may have been paying a disproportionately high contribution to the Islandwide rate, compared to the other 11 parishes. All Constables are members of a rates supervisory committee which must, by law, “encourage and promote uniformity in rateable values throughout Jersey”.
