INCREASED property tax is threatening the future of the island’s last greenhouse recycling business. Portinfer Timber Yard owner Harry Teal said he was horrified to find that his rates were to go up from £86 to about £1,450 following the reclassification.
‘When they told me, I was speechless and I had to pass the phone to my wife,’ he said.
Mr Teal has run the business since 1970 and he said he was tired of fighting the system.
‘With this on top of increased social security contributions and the doubling of the cost of diesel, I might just as well go and work for Joe Bloggs,’ he said.
Mr Teal is concerned that his workshop, which he uses for cleaning and storing timber, has been classified as a retail unit. He said he sells goods only from a small office adjoining the yard.
‘I spend as much time working on site as I do in the office and I’m lucky if I get two or three customers in a morning,’ he said.
‘But I’m having to pay the same rates as supermarkets which are doing mega amounts of business. It doesn’t seem to matter what size you are or how much you sell.’
Mr Teal has raised the matter with Deputy Graham Guille.
Deputy Guille, a member of the Treasury and Resources Department, has written to the Cadastre on Mr Teal’s behalf. He said he had done it as Mr Teal’s district representative and not in his Treasury capacity.
‘We ‘the Treasury’ have had an enormous task, with something like 20,000 individual places being reassessed as a result of the change,’ he said.
Some people were unhappy with their ratings and had asked to have them checked.
‘Harry raised a legitimate concern with me and the officers of our department will look into it, but it’s not for me to pass comment,’ he said.
‘I don’t think he should panic because, if it is a problem, it will be addressed and I will represent him to the best of my ability.’
The yard recycles wood, metal piping and glass. There used to be four companies providing such a service but Portinfer is the only one left. Mr Teal’s wife Michelle looks after the office while he is out on site and they do not employ anyone.
Mr Teal said there were huge inconsistencies in the system and he wondered if hedge veg stalls had also been rated as retail units.
‘If I have to pay that amount, I’ll give it another year and see how things are then,’ said Mr Teal. ‘I was born in Guernsey, but if it was down to me I’d be up and gone because the island’s had it.’
Loading ...
Share this article:
What are these?