The move, which is still subject to the final approval of the Budget, will see the States pay £978,000 on parish rates on its buildings from next year.
And after a further amendment from the Constable’s Committee was also approved the States will also pay the Island-wide rate on its buildings – the proceeds of which are paid to the Treasury Department.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft has campaigned for a number of years to get the States to pay parish rates on its buildings, with his parish set to be the main beneficiary.
Despite being initially approved ahead of last year’s Budget debate, the issue of parish rates was shelved when Members rejected it at the final hurdle due to concerns over the wording.
And Treasury Minister Alan Maclean omitted any provisions for the States to pay rates from his 2018 Budget proposals, despite a previously approved decision that parish rates should be paid still standing. He argued that a full review of the Rates Law needed to be carried out and asked for a further year to find a sustainable funding mechanism for the payment of parish rates.
Mr Crowcroft said during yesterday’s Budget debate: ‘It is time to say enough is enough. Treasury will have to get on with the work [in bringing the legislation forward] because they won’t have a choice.
‘We have been giving them another year for the past 11 years.’
He added that as a result of the amendment ‘everybody sees a decrease in their contributions’ and that all that changes would be bringing in another payer into the pot.
Discussing the move to get the States to pay the Island-wide rate on top of parish rates, St Clement Constable Len Norman said it would make the rates system fairer and would mean the States had a full understanding of the cost of doing its business.
The move means that the Education Department will be liable to pay the Island-wide rate on its schools, bringing the charges in line with private schools that already pay the charge.
Several Members also called for a full re-evaluation of the charging of rates, which have not been changed since 2001.
Senator Maclean said that the amendment should be rejected and argued that the States had already sent a ‘clear message of the direction of travel’. He added: ‘We can’t justify £1.9 million recurring without a funding scheme.’
Ultimately Mr Crowcroft’s amendment was approved by 40 votes to two, with just the Treasury Minister and his Assistant Minister John Refault voting against the scheme.
