FALMOUTH, Trelawny — The Trelawny Municipal Corporation is reporting that the parish is leading in property tax collection islandwide for this financial year. According to acting chief executive officer for the corporation, Andrew Harrison, up to July 22 some $164 million of the targetted $291million had been collected.

“This is about 57 per cent of our target and the closest to us is the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, which is at 54 per cent, so we are doing well,” said Harrison, adding that the Trelawny Municipal Corporation had also surpassed its property tax collection target last year.

Harrison, who was addressing Trelawny residents during the corporation’s 2018/2019 budget presentation at the Falmouth Town Hall recently, expressed confidence that the corporation will also exceed its target for this financial year.

“I am confident that due to the fact that we are doing so well at this stage, we will also exceed our target this financial year,” he stressed.

He commended the citizens for paying property taxes, and urged them to continue to do so, stressing that without taxes the corporation would not be able to fund a number of its projects.

“It is important for you to pay your property taxes because the money that you pay comes back to you. It comes back to you in the form of garbage collection, it comes back to you in the form of beautification, in the form of minor water supplies, street lights …” Harrison explained.

Meanwhile, the Trelawny Municipal Corporation has set a target of $320.5 million for property tax collection during the 2018/2019 financial year.

“Based on where we are coming from and what we have achieved so far, I am sure that this is attainable,” Trevon Clayton, the acting chief financial officer at the corporation, told the gathering.

He noted that the corporation will be intensifying its sensitisation programme in coming weeks, in an effort to make citizens more aware of the importance of paying their taxes.

Plans are also being finalised to hire more compliance officers at the corporation, to utilise the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development mobile tax collection units, and to establish more ‘collection stations’ in sections of the southern part of the parish.