The Board of Malew Parish Commissioners has announced that the local authority rate for the forthcoming financial year 2024/5 will remain unchanged at 199p.
An increase in income due to new residential and commercial developments within the parish, coupled with administrative savings and having major borrowings on a fixed rate rather than variable and therefore unaffected by recent rate rises, has enabled the Board to balance the budget without an increased burden on the ratepayer. This is despite the increases being levied on the local authority such as 8.08% increase in waste disposal. Malew Commissioners are also faced with increases in contributions to the Southern Swimming Pool and the Southern Civic Amenity Site, however these are important amenities for the South and need to be sufficiently funded.
The overall Rates Demand that residents receive will show that Commissioner’s element of that bill is just 26%. This is in contrast to the 73% of that bill that is paid to Manx Utilities for water and sewerage. The remain 1% is paid to the Malew Burial Ground. A typical property with a rateable value of 150pp is as below:
Commissioners £298.50
MUA Water £435.15
MUA Sewerage £397.35
Burial Ground £12.00
Total £1143.00
Over the next financial year, the Commissioners are planning ways to improve the level of the appearance of the public open spaces by engaging contractors and also exploring a more collaborative approach with neighbouring authorities.
The close working ties with Port Erin Commissioners continues to be of benefit to both authorities and plans to improve the resilience of the joint refuse service are underway.
A reminder that nominations for the inaugural Community Involvement Award as previously publicised should be made by Monday 5th February 2024.