City Of Hamilton To Collect New Sewerage Tax

An amendment will allow the City to collect a sewage tax applicable to all properties connected to the City sewage system, the City of Hamilton has advised, with the City saying “this new sewerage tax is critical to ensure the viability of the City of Hamilton’s sewage system.”

A spokesperson said, “The City of Hamilton advises that an amendment to the Hamilton Sewerage Act 1917 will provide for a new Sewerage Tax Ordinance.

“This will permit the City to collect a sewage tax applicable to all properties connected to the City sewage system, inclusive of those that fall outside of the municipal boundaries. The sewage tax revenue will only be allocated to upgrades to the current sewage system, parts of which are one hundred years old and other sewage related capital projects.

“The sewage system managed and operated by the City of Hamilton plays a critical role in the processing of sewage waste for the vast majority of Bermudians and visitors alike.

“The City currently pumps 500,000 gallons of waste every day, 57% of which is generated within the municipality with the remaining 43% coming from properties outside of the City limits.

“Every household cesspit that is pumped out has the contents deposited in the Government’s Tynes Bay septic facility which is directly connected to the City sewage system.

“The Act limits the maximum tax rate to 25 cents per hundred dollars of the Annual Rental Value of the valuation unit. The City has advised that the first year of billable sewerage taxes will be calculated at only 20 cents per hundred dollars of the property ARV.

“In terms of what the actual bill for users of the system will look like, properties valued at $20,000 ARV will realize a maximum charge of $40 per annum and a property valued at an ARV of $100,000 would see their per annum charge maximum at $200. The annual sewage taxes will be invoiced twice a year [half the annual amount] and rate-payers can expect their first statement in March 2018.

“The City of Hamilton stresses that failure to upgrade the current sewage system would ultimately lead to catastrophic circumstances with a partial to full break down of the City’s sewage system.

“The social, economic and environmental impacts of the worst-case scenario would be monumental – hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage in Hamilton Harbour and the island’s shoreline and complete sewage system failure of business, residential, hotel, school and hospital facilities that connect to the City’s system.

“This being realized, the City of Hamilton has advised that this new sewerage tax is critical to ensure the viability of the City of Hamilton’s sewage system.”

Of the new tax, City of Hamilton Mayor, Charles Gosling said, ‘The City is still recovering from the significant loss in revenue from parking along with costs associated with the $18 million dollar guarantee and waterfront debacles.

“We are now in a position to tackle the issue of the sewage system. We have interest in funding the capital upgrades to the sewage system from at least one local bank and we reached out to Government last year to inform them of our strategy and garner their support.’

City of Hamilton Chief Operating Officer Edward Benevides, added, ‘We have budgeted $750,000 this year for the commission of a specialized engineering report for further treatment of the sewage.

“Based on the findings of the report, we will look to start the construction hopefully in 2019. We feel confident that the work done to date combined with the commitment and support by Government and rate-payers to these necessary upgrades, will benefit all of Bermuda.’

#BermudaBusiness #CorporationOfHamilton

Category: All, Business, News