At a recent meeting of the Board of German Parish Commissioners the rate levy was set for the financial year 2015-2016.

In order to meet the increased costs of the contributions to the Western Civic Amenity Site the Commissioners, along with the other constituent authorities, have again reviewed the running of the site. During this process over the summer they have been able to realise an overall reduction of 13.8% in the cost of contributions made by German Parish Commissioners for the coming year.

Since the introduction of the increased waste disposal charge at the Energy From Waste Plant the cost implication for the Commissioners would have equated to a 16 pence in the pound increase to the rates to date and while they are slowly introducing these increases and managing the shortfall from their reserves they still have some way to go before all these costs are reflected in the rate.

In October 2014 Minister Gawne wrote to all the Local Authorities announcing his intention to transfer certain services to the Commissioners that would come in to effect from April 2015. The cost impact of the transfer of services equates to a 11 pence in the pound increase in the general rate.

The transfer of costs from Central Government to Local Authorities is set to continue and although the Commissioners welcome the freeze in the planned increase for the waste disposal charge for the coming year announced in October 2014 they are already planning how to mitigate the impact of the cost of waste disposal charge increase for 2016/17 which will equate to a 14 pence in the pound increase in the rate.

The cost implications of the transfer of services and costs from Central Government between 2012/13 and 2016/17 will equate to a 42 pence in the pound increase in the rate levy or a 60% increase in the general rate.

With this in mind, as in previous years, all German Commissioners have stated that they will not claim the Attendance Allowance for attending Commissioners meetings and they will continue working to reduce the impact of additional central government costs being passed onto the rate payers. 

The general rate will increase to 81 pence in the pound. The separate annual refuse charge for domestic properties which covers the cost of the bin collection contract, the waste disposal charge at the Energy From Waste Plant will have to increase to reflect the increased disposal changes levied at the Energy for Waste Plant. Accordingly the current charge per dwelling per annum of ?95 will increase to ?100 and the refuse rate will increase to 50 pence in the pound. This will equate to an average increase of between ?15 to ?25 per household, per year.