By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

KIKIVARAKIS and Company, a local financial advisory firm, remains contracted with the government to go after real property tax arrears, Deputy Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest confirmed yesterday.

The firm was contracted by the Christie administration in 2014 to go after an estimated $557m in outstanding real property taxes.

“It’s still here,” Mr Turnquest said when contacted Sunday. “We’re reviewing all options, whether we want to continue contracting out that service or bring that in-house is something we are determining.”

In its statement Friday confirming the country’s Baa3 credit rating, Moody’s cited strengthening tax enforcement, “particularly in property tax collections where evasion is relatively high,” as one reason it declined to downgrade the country’s credit rating. The agency also cited prospects for debt stabilisation from the government’s fiscal consolidation programme, credit metrics that remain in line with its Baa3 peers and a contained liquidity risk as factors that influenced its decision.

It’s not clear whether the Minnis administration has taken new steps to go after real property tax arrears.

The cost of the country’s contract with Kikivarakis and Company was never revealed, nor have the terms of the contract or its success rate been made public to date.

The company’s selection in 2014 was the first time the government outsourced the collection of real property tax to the private sector.

According to draft estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2017-2018, property tax revenue was forecast to be $153,500,000 for 2016-2017, a 48 per cent increase from 2015-2016. Property tax revenue projections for 2017-2018 have revenue dropping to $143,500,000.

In 2013, the Christie administration launched a real property tax amnesty programme to give owners a chance to have their property assessed without penalty. It allowed people to bring their accounts current purportedly with a chance to secure significant savings.