The Council of Regidores of the Mayor’s Office of the National District passed an ordinance establishing a special contribution to lucrative businesses for the exclusive use of the accesses or ramps to those establishments built by the authorities.
The project was approved by the 30 aldermen present of the 37 of the total registration of the Council. Seven apologized. One of the arguments of the administration to present the referral of the draft ordinance was the increase in the cost of construction materials in recent years due to the pandemic.
The town hall argues that it requires resources for the construction of sidewalks, curbs, scuppers, registers, filters, but clarifies that private homes, schools, churchesoffices of lawyers, engineers and other liberal professions entities that are not in commercial places, in which case the charge will be made to the entire space occupied by the property.
The special contribution It will be applied in the following way: the main avenues would pay RD$1,260.00 per square meter used, the primary streets RD$630.00 per square meter and the same amount for secondary streets.
The Collection Directorate of the Town hall Together with the General Directorate of Urban Planning, they will be responsible for implementing the ordinance approved by the aldermen Yesterday.
The President of the Council of aldermen, Elijah Reynosoassured that the arbitration will be of great benefit to the city because investments can be made in the improvement of public spaces such as sidewalks and green areas.
Merchants reaction
The president of the Confederation of Trade in Provisions and Mipymes of the Dominican Republic (Confecomercio), Gilberto Luna, said that they were not invited to the public hearings and reject the ordinance on the understanding that merchants They can’t take more taxes.
He indicated that the Town hall What you should do is dedicate yourself more to your own issues such as garbage and the occupation of streets and sidewalks by merchants as it happens in sectors like Villa Consuelo.
“We do not agree in any way with that ordinance, we understand that this should be reversed and that the city council start collecting garbage and regulating the city”said the business leader.
For his part, Iván García, president of the Dominican Federation of Merchantsagreed with Luna in the sense that they were not invited to debate the issue in the Council of aldermen and that he did not see the public publication that was made.
The business leader considered that this is not the time to place more taxes, although the intentions of the ordinance are good and fair, but that the effects of the pandemic are still being felt in the national economy.
“Talking about taxes right now is not possible because the commercial sector no longer has the capacity to continue assuming costs and expenses”President of the Dominican Federation of Merchants
“We understand that this is a project that had to be left for 2023 or 2024 when the economy really had a more important recovery, when tourism was already at levels higher than 2019 and there was normality in the country, because talking about taxes right now that is not possible because the commercial sector no longer has the capacity to continue assuming costs and expenses at this time”, he maintained.
García stated that if they had been aware of the project and the public hearings they would have opposed it because the current times are to act with great restraint and recalled that the central government has not submitted the tax reform, even if it is needed, because it is not the time opportune and that this should have been an example that the aldermen they should have taken into account.
The legal of the Town hall
The legal of the Town hall of the National District, Ricardo Ayanes Pérez Núñez, affirmed that the action of the administration to submit the draft Ordinance for the Establishment of Special Contribution to commercial establishments for the use of sidewalk access and use of public spaces.
It indicated that the aforementioned law, in its articles 291 and 292, establishes the power that the mayor’s offices have to establish excise taxes in the case of benefits for works carried out to those who benefit from them.
“This contribution that has just been approved today is simply for individuals and legal entities that have a commercial activity. You are not going to tax natural persons such as houses, nor non-profit organizations, that is only for people who have a commercial activity and profit from this commercial activity, “said Pérez Núñez.
He remembered that the Town hall It has multiple works to be carried out, such as building and maintaining scuppers, filters, collectors, parks, green areas, sidewalks, maintenance of cemeteries, and without resources, the administration cannot carry out these works, which translates into benefits for citizens.
“Simply what we are doing is requiring sources of resources guaranteed by law that allow us to obtain resources to be able to continue carrying out the works carried out by the Town hall. The idea is not to tax entities that benefit society like a school, that provide education to its citizens, and churches neither,” he reiterated.
