RATES

[Fred the shred]

The knock on effect of all these rises which are stemming in the main from our glorious government is less spendable income which once again very bad news for shops, hospitality , entertainment , service providers and everyone in fact who depends on cash flow.

[Andy Onchan]

9 minutes ago, Fred the shred said:

The knock on effect of all these rises which are stemming in the main from our glorious government is less spendable income which once again very bad news for shops, hospitality , entertainment , service providers and everyone in fact who depends on cash flow.

See my post in Firm Closing thread.

[Hairy Poppins]

11 minutes ago, Fred the shred said:

The knock on effect of all these rises which are stemming in the main from our glorious government is less spendable income which once again very bad news for shops, hospitality , entertainment , service providers and everyone in fact who depends on cash flow.

Which will result in Government wanting to do something by running schemes like that Isle of Man giftcard... which will need even more civil servants... 

[Molly Quirk]

39 minutes ago, Mercenary said:

To put it into context at that amount rates would double every 6 years.

 

Does the Treasury portion of rated automatically go up by the same amount? So the typical mentioned 3 bed would be paying £665 to DBC & £665 to Treasury?

No that's not how it works. Each Local Authority sets their own rate but only Braddan, Douglas and Onchan collect their own rates. All other Local Authorities have their rates collected by IOM Government (so only one Rate Demand - whereas Braddan, Douglas and Onchan residents get two).

The Treasury also collects their own rates and have set their rate at 555 in the pound which equates to £643.80.

Therefore a typical property in Douglas will be paying £664.68 plus £643.80 = £1,308.48.

A typical property in Onchan will pay £476.76 plus £643.80 - £1,120.56

[Banker]

Public sector including DBC staff will be demanding 12% even though inflation is only 5% December and less now!!

[Non-Believer]

12 minutes ago, Banker said:

Public sector including DBC staff will be demanding 12% even though inflation is only 5% December and less now!!

This what I alluded to earlier; this will feed straight into next year's PS pay demands, fuelling the spiral upwards.

It's all about the PS looking after their own interests, the private sector are there to be milked and are falling further and further behind in the cost of living battle. Unless they are getting inflation (or double it) payrises.

[Roger Mexico]

36 minutes ago, Amadeus said:

It’s way less than that but I’d have to check the precise figure. Having an accessible golf course and club is a good thing, and it’s not like we can do much else with the land. It has to pay for itself though and will do so soon. 

This isn't just about cost and the subsidisation of leisure facilities (and which ones).  It's about the availability of information.  Up to the financial year 2016-17 you could see where the money was being spent (and earned) on various facilities.  Here's an example from that year:

And scrolling through those Accounts will show more and more detailed breakdowns of how money was spent in the various areas of the Council's operations.  Since then however all such spending is subsumed under nebulous headings as from 2022-23's Accounts:

with categories such as "Support Services" and "Democratic Core" covering who knows what.  No doubt Councillors are reassured that this is "best practice" and not to worry their pretty little heads about the details.

One detail we do know though (because it's a legal requirement):

There a lot of quite well paid officers with nebulous titles.

[Non-Believer]

[Banker]

5 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

This isn't just about cost and the subsidisation of leisure facilities (and which ones).  It's about the availability of information.  Up to the financial year 2016-17 you could see where the money was being spent (and earned) on various facilities.  Here's an example from that year:

And scrolling through those Accounts will show more and more detailed breakdowns of how money was spent in the various areas of the Council's operations.  Since then however all such spending is subsumed under nebulous headings as from 2022-23's Accounts:

with categories such as "Support Services" and "Democratic Core" covering who knows what.  No doubt Councillors are reassured that this is "best practice" and not to worry their pretty little heads about the details.

One detail we do know though (because it's a legal requirement):

There a lot of quite well paid officers with nebulous titles.

So we know the golf course subsidy was £145k 6 years ago but it’s now hidden in cost of parks etc of c£2m loss 

[Amadeus]

10 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

This isn't just about cost and the subsidisation of leisure facilities (and which ones).  It's about the availability of information.  Up to the financial year 2016-17 you could see where the money was being spent (and earned) on various facilities.  Here's an example from that year:

And scrolling through those Accounts will show more and more detailed breakdowns of how money was spent in the various areas of the Council's operations.  Since then however all such spending is subsumed under nebulous headings as from 2022-23's Accounts:

with categories such as "Support Services" and "Democratic Core" covering who knows what.  No doubt Councillors are reassured that this is "best practice" and not to worry their pretty little heads about the details.

One detail we do know though (because it's a legal requirement):

There a lot of quite well paid officers with nebulous titles.

Good post and I can tell you that there’s a lot of talk about transparency in town hall but (to my perception) it often doesn’t feel like this translates into practice. Still got a year left. Might be time to start ruffling feathers. 

[Two-lane]

Ramsey Town Commissioners:

The number of employees whose remuneration, excluding pension contributions, was £50,000 or more in
bands of £25,000 was:

year end 2021: 2

year end 2022: 5

 

[Molly Quirk]

The 2024/25 cost of the golf course is in the estimates on the website. 

Here's a snippet from the published estimates so it looks like the subsidy has decreased from £148k in 2015/16 to £45k in 2024/25. 

 

Edited January 31 by Molly Quirk

[Jarndyce]

3 hours ago, Hmmmm said:

This attitude towards Douglas rate payers is not sustainable.

@Amadeus

I’m starting to feel that I can’t afford to continue living in Douglas, particularly if this approach continues year upon year.

What happens to DCC rate revenue if there’s an exodus of domestic rate payers?

[Non-Believer]

1 minute ago, Two-lane said:

Ramsey Town Commissioners:

The number of employees whose remuneration, excluding pension contributions, was £50,000 or more in
bands of £25,000 was:

year end 2021: 2

year end 2022: 5

 

Indeedy. This tallies with what a long-serving commissioner told me only about 2 months ago. I quote almost word for word...

"The situation including finances is out of control, the  Board aren't in control, we're getting no say. It's just jobs for ex-DOI mates of Town Hall officers. The place is full of them".

Perhaps if these salaries weren't getting paid, the rates rise could have been less than 6%?

[Spyk3r]

Just now, Jarndyce said:

@Amadeus

I’m starting to feel that I can’t afford to continue living in Douglas, particularly if this approach continues year upon year.

What happens to DCC rate revenue if there’s an exodus of domestic rate payers?

I'm in the same boat - however, if the issue is if you leave Douglas to go to Ballasalla or Castletown, you have to factor in things like fuel into the city for work/leisure/shopping etc. As soon as you do that, it is cheaper to stay put. But it does feel like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place...