Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The parish of Hanover holds the distinction of being the island's most compliant parish where the collection rate of property taxes is concerned, with a 61 per cent compliance rate.

Mayor of Lucea and chairman of the Hanover Parish Council, Lloyd Hill, attributes this to stringent measures taken by the council to ensure that taxes are paid and that this is done on time.

At the end of the fiscal year 2007-2008, Hanoverians paid over a total of $41,363,477 in property taxes, well ahead of other parishes on a per capita basis.

Special effort

Hanover, one of Jamaica's smallest parishes, has a population of 67,000.

"We have made a special effort to ensure compliance," Mayor Hill told a Gleaner Editors' Forum on Wednesday.

"We were one of the first councils to engage in actually employing persons directly attached to the Inland Revenue Department to identify delinquent persons where property tax payment was concerned."

He added that the council has also employed municipal police personnel to help with tax collection.

Property taxes are used to fund street lights, garbage collection and disposal, and parochial road rehabilitation.

Statistics from the Department of Local Government show that Kingston and St Andrew is second to Hanover in terms of property tax compliance with a rate of 54 per cent.

Trelawny is in the 13th and last position with a rate of 37 per cent.