the mayor of Saint Joseph, Ana Bentaberrimust explain to the Departmental Board the increases of up to 500% in the real estate contribution amid strong local unrest over the measure.
The increases, which unleashed all kinds of complaints from taxpayers and led the opposition to summon the mayor to give explanations, occurred after a change in the method of calculation by the commune.
With the first protests, the due date of the municipal contribution was postponed from the 6th to the 16th of this month, but the San José Municipality did not later review the amounts and citizens had to pay the tax with exorbitant amounts in many cases.
From the Bentaberri government they defended themselves by explaining that only the 15% of the department register was affected by the increase, this is 8,400 taxpayers out of a total of 56,000.
The revaluation of the real estate tax was a direct consequence of the change in its calculation, decided at the end of last year.
Before, the Municipality of San José used its own database on the cadastral value of each property, but currently it uses the information from the National Cadastre Directorate of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), which implied a readjustment. In any case, it should be noted that the cadastre value differs from the market value.
Other increases: the case of Montevideo
At the beginning of March, the Municipality of Montevideo (IMM) also reported an increase in the real estate tax, which sparked much controversy.
Mayor Carolina Cosse assured that 550,000 taxpayers, only 12,000 were affected due to the increase that had a real rise above inflation. The tax will be applied to high-value real estate with a maximum increase of 28% nominal, where a 8.25% corresponding to inflation.
Property owners are obliged to pay this tax, as well as holders of any title, potential buyers with a registered purchase promise and the highest bidders in judicial auctions. The tax will be paid in three installments that will be divided between the months of March, July and November.
Source: Ambito
