Cabinet amends Property Tax Act

During their weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday in Belmopan three amendments were approved to legislation affecting local government. The Towns Property Tax Act was amended so that the Belize City Council could continue to levy property tax based on the annual rental value until the transition to a system based on the market value of the property. The Act was also amended to allow local authorities, rather than the Valuation Unit to appoint valuation officers. The Trade Licensing Act was also amended to allow local authorities, not the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to appoint members of the Trade Licensing Board for each town. Under the Ministry of Economic Development, three projects have been approved for submission to the Caribbean Development Bank: the renovation of the Burrell Boom Village Health Center, provision of sanitary facilities at Gales Point, and a rudimentary water system for Santa Ana, Toledo. Under the Ministry of Rural Development Cabinet agreed that electrification projects would be carried out for San Miguel, San Marcos and Hicattee Villages. In Belize City, the Ministry of Public Utilities will make available small loans of three hundred dollars for one thousand households to hook up to the Water and Sewerage Authority water supply. The Ministry also says that several Austrian Airlines have expressed interest in establishing regular and charter flights to Belize. Civil Aviation’s Efrain Gomez tells News Five the proposal is still in its initial phases and air transport agreement will have to be negotiated. He says the Austrian air carriers have indicated they would like to begin service to Belize by the end of 1999. And finally Cabinet received status reports on a number of issues first discussed last year such as the inventory of government vehicles, the report from the committee reviewing the Malaysian logging licenses and the surveying of lots between Hattieville and Burrell Boom which is to begin immediately.