As reported last week, residents in ten of the 12 parishes can now pay their rates bill online by credit card, although they will be charged an extra 1.25%. But ratepayers in St Helier, as well as St John, do not have access to the new facility, which also enables people to pay by direct debit at no extra charge.
The money is put into a central account overseen by the Constables’ Committee and redistributed to each parish in due course. If the parishes want the money paid directly to them, they will have to pay an extra £300 a year.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft said that the main reason that St Helier had opted out of the scheme was because of the large number of ratepayers in the parish. ‘It was felt that this was an untested system that could lead to a lot more extra work,’ he explained.
The customer services manager at the Town Hall, Darren Cleworth, said there was a worry that people would get into debt by paying their rates with a credit card, plus the extra 1.25%, and then have to pay interest on top of that.
‘For St Helier, that extra charge is a no-no,’ said Mr Cleworth. ‘We have no plans to charge our customers to pay their rates, either now or in the future. Other parishes may be happy to charge. We have been accepting credit card payments for 15 years for parking fines and dog licences, but we have never made a charge.’
Referring to the fact that there would be no charge for using debit cards, he said: ‘People mostly use their credit cards if they have a big bill, or are in financial difficulty. It is our opinion that if people have the money in the bank, they will use their debit card.
‘We have to look after our ratepayers – it is a moral obligation as well.’
Mr Cleworth said that other technological options were being explored. ‘There are some interesting comparisons – for instance Transport and Technical Services accept parking payments online, but they don’t charge. It is possible that St Helier will do something slightly different.’
Mr Cleworth also said there were concerns that insufficient time had been given to test the new system. ‘We welcome this facility, but for 2015 it is not a good option,’ he said. ‘The Parish of St Helier has a turnover of £20 million and we have to be sure that payments are administered correctly.’
He added that because of the amount of money the parish collected in rates – about £12 million in total – a test period of five to six months would be advisable.
‘Something as important and on this sort of scale cannot be compared with any other parish,’ said Mr Cleworth. ‘I’m not suggesting that the ten other parishes are using an unstable system or are taking a risk, but we would want to test it for several months. In effect, the other parishes are testing it on our behalf – and I have to say that early feedback has been very positive.’
What are rates?
Rates are taxes paid by everyone who owns or occupies land in Jersey, which includes any house, building, structure or land.
If you own the land and occupy it, you will be liable for two lots of rates – those for the owner and those for the occupier.
They are made up of two types: parish rates and Islandwide rates. Both are paid directly to parishes, with the parish part used to fund their general expenses, such as repair and maintenance of roads, and the Islandwide payment being passed on to the Treasury.
The amount of the rates people pay depends on the size of the land, what it is used for and the parish in which it is located.
Rates are similar to the UK’s council tax, although a lot lower.
