Smøla Mayor Roger Osen is not merciful to coalition parties … – Future Requirements

Smøla Mayor Roger Osen is not merciful to government parties consultation paper on changes in the property tax.

Ministry of Finance’s consultation paper which came on June 18, involves extensive and dramatic economic consequences for many municipalities.

Government announced here changes eiendomsbeskatninga of works and use by production equipment exempted from property tax, alternatively that category mills and completely removed and placed under general commercial.

This has including the National Association of Norwegian wind power have reacted strongly.

– For municipalities with wind farms, which currently does not have statutory tax schemes beyond the property tax, will ei so the legislation be disastrous, since the real estate tax in practice will cease for such facilities. Therefore, the proposal for LNVKs view a complete bomskudd, emphasizes LNVK leader Iver Nordseth.

Dramatic for Smøla

Also Smøla mayor, Roger Osen, reacted strongly to content Government consultation paper. In addition reacts Osen at the time of dispatch of the note.

– This I think that we can safely ascertain came very suddenly many. In my opinion it is cynical of government to present it at a time when Parliament has holiday and at a time when most municipalities had been discontinued, or were about to liquidate last council meeting before the summer holidays.

Osen would not speculate on whether it is a conscious act, but notes that the publication of the consultation paper was happening very quiet and “under the radar”.

Major cuts

Roger Osen clearly see the drama of the proposal, which will affect Smøla greatly.

– For Smøla it will mean that 12 of 12,500,000 property tax dollars will disappear. Sure there are dramatic for a total municipal budget of NOK 211 million.

Osel also emphasizes that it will have implications for many other municipalities.

– We have been informed that there are 343 municipalities that will be affected to a greater or lesser extent, says Osen, who put people in turn to calculate the precise consequences for Smøla, and to prepare a hearing pronunciation of Smøla.

– 12 million less in income will mean that we will have to cut in salary, and I dare not think of snuggle sequences, says a concerned smøla mayor.

He added that the municipality Norway work in a common front, and that it is now important to work towards our representatives in Parliament.

– I would challenge Pål Farstad directly to voice our cause, says Osen, which states that districts clearly will follow through on what parliament does.

Osen has assessed the within their own party, and is relatively certain that the proposal will not gain support in labor.

– But I do not feel confident about something. We are completely dependent on the Government’s support parties.

Marble away by Stoltenberg

In the press release from LNVK they refer to the background to the consultation paper. For the issue is not new.

The original background was a report on property tax from NHO spring of 2011, where the main criticism is directed precisely against the rule that machinery and equipment – which forms an integral part of the work and the use – should be included in the fare basis.

– After the Stoltenberg government shelved the proposals, took the current government back up the matter in Sundsvold platform, and the consultation paper is now sent out showing that the proposal is more stringent with regard to what should be exempt from property tax, says Iver Nordseth.

If you omit the production equipment from valuation basis for work and use, the reality in most cases is that most of the fare basis disappears. Because traditional mills and represents the production equipment the dominant value share, but buildings are often simple shell around production.

– Should the government, contrary to expectations, gain support for the proposal amendment, according to preliminary estimates that fares / tax will be reduced by between 75% and 95-100%, depending on the type of taxation. Consequently in this case greatly reduced tax revenues for the local government sector, and the corresponding increase in tax revenues to the state – in the order of 1.2 billion, says Nordseth.

Complete bomskudd

– For municipalities with wind farms , which currently does not have statutory tax schemes beyond the property tax, will ei so the legislation be catastrophic, as property tax in practice will cease for such facilities. Therefore, the proposal for LNVKs view a complete bomskudd, emphasizes LNVK leader Iver Nordseth.
There are already mobilized and raised strong objections from KS, energy authorities, industrial and petroleum municipalities, which were collected for joint strategy meeting now last Monday in Oslo .
– LNVK are very pleased with this cooperation, and it is important that all relevant municipalities involved in relation to the submission deadline is September 18th, concludes Nordseth.