Thursday, July 19, 2012

People living in glass houses

The Ayuntamiento in Bigastro are intent on claiming the council tax that should have been paid on 200 properties in the town. Some of the owners have not paid local taxes for ten years in an arrangement that the PP says was instigated by the previous socialist government in return for votes.

Of course mayors are not exempt from council tax and so it has been brought to light that Charo Bañuls has not paid IBI on the house she lives in. Yesterday she took the time to explain why.

The family business decided to convert one of its warehouses into  6 houses, three of which were completed by July 2010. They applied for a cadastral evaluation a month after completion and the City Council granted the license for occupation in October. Bañuls  says that she has been living in the house since late 2009.

As all of the residents at Villas Andrea know, the process of applying rates to new properties takes time. First there is the evaluation by Cadastre in Alicante, then the process undertaken by SUMA who are the agency employed to collect local taxes. Bañuls says that has now been completed and has the bills for 2011 and 2012 but points out that they are for 1,000 euros per year and not the 9,000 euros reported in the local press. That equates to just over 300 euros per house.

The only real issue for the mayor and her family is that the planning permission for the three incomplete houses will expire.

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