Car tax collection off to
slow start on French side
MARIGOT--Despite the planned demonstration by Collectif Mouvement Citoyen (CMS), there was no disruption to procedures set in place for paying the newly implemented road tax at the Omnisports Hall in Galis Bay on Monday.
Around 20 members of CMS gathered peacefully in the car park of the sports facility, making their grievances known, and encouraging vehicle owners to sign the group’s petition. A fairly heavy security presence was on hand in case of trouble but no Gendarmes were seen during the morning.
CMS disagrees with the way the car tax has been introduced, claiming it is too expensive and does not take into account types of cars and engine horsepower. It is calling for a lower car tax of 60 euros instead of 110 euros.
There was a delay to the start of the collection process when cashiers had to wait for the vignettes (stickers) to be delivered. Cashiers also reported that they had found the gates to the car park locked and had to find someone to saw off the lock. CMS denied they had locked the gates.
Assistant Director of Population Services Veronique Sapor noted that between 20 and 30 persons had come to pay the car tax by around 10:30am. There was no rush or lines of people waiting. Staff manning a desk at the entrance to the facility checked all the required documents before vehicles owners were sent inside to pay any of the five cashiers.
Several people were turned away because they had not brought photocopies of their documents. Cashiers are reminding the population that only photocopies of the documents are accepted with the payment.
There are also changes to the original plan: persons will only have to make one trip to collect their vignette instead of two trips as previously announced. In addition, businesses, car rental companies and other entities that were supposed to pay their car tax at the Treasury can also pay at the Omnisports Hall now. It was found that the treasury offices were too small.
Speaking during a wide ranging interview with Jacques Hamlet on Radio St. Martin, President Louis-Constant Fleming clarified that the road tax which was voted by the Territorial Council is not a vignette in the true sense of the word but a “yearly contribution.”
“St. Barths has a vignette system applied to the differences in the horsepower of the car’s engine. If we went into that system, it would be like telling the people you can only buy small cars,” said Fleming. “Our aim with the road tax is to generate around 2-million euros to be able to secure a 25-30 million loan to get our roads up to par. As far as the budget is concerned, the road tax is a “recette affecté” and can only be used for upgrading or creating new roads.”
Asked whether he did not think the tax could have been put off to a later date, Fleming said: “We have already delayed the start. We have to start somewhere. Is paying 10 euros per month really that expensive? Paying this tax sends the message to Government that we are taking responsibility for our own future. We also need to get a database in place to know how many cars we have on the French side.”
Fleming said he could not be held responsible for how taxes such as gasoline tax were used in the past by the Commune.
Julien Gumbs of CMS, reacting to President Fleming’s interview, said he was far from satisfied.
“The president’s comments were poor and evasive,” said Gumbs of the radio interview. “He didn’t bring in anything new to the story other than what we know already.”
Gumbs said his group would be meeting to discuss what further action would be taken. He noted that another 75 signatures were added on Monday morning to the 450 that had already been received.
Vehicle owners have until May to pay their car tax at the Omnisports Hall. The cut- off date is yet to be confirmed. Cashiers are accepting payments from 7:30am to 2:00pm continuously from Monday to Friday.
