2021-11-24 EMC draft minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Adams said we still need legal counsel. And who asks the legal counsel is the issue. She recommended the Director to contact his DCC and she would check with EMCs DCC. The two of you figure out whos going to write up, what are the options, and whats legal, and what is not, she said. DCC Wong recommended Director Mansour to follow up with the Finance Department to see where that is, and she would loop in with DCC Malia Kekai, and we can discuss out we move forward on this issue. But she has received the request, she said. źƷŷķƩğǞğƌ ƚŅ aƚƷźƚƓʹ Commissioner Olson withdraws his motion. Chair Adams agreed. We will get back to you and let you know what the next step would be. We will see how we want to formalize getting an actual opinion written, she said. Commissioner Fulton said we always strive for progressive fees or taxes. But she really likes the idea of a PAYT or earmarking the TAT. When she lived on the mainland, she was drawn to islands even then. And she was made several visits to the Cayman Islands. Grand Cayman is a small island with a small population, but there is very little poverty on Grand Cayman. Why is that? Because they tax the heck out of their visitors, she said. And we have a situation here with so many issues on our island, obviously beyond the scope of our Commission. But we deal with wastewater and solid waste, and we have serious problems in both divisions. Now, if we can draw a metaphor, if somebody has a home and their toilets are broken, thats not the time to invite visitors in, she said. You want to get that fixed; you want to take care of this issue. Here on this island, our toilets have been broken for a long time and we just kind of stuck our heads in the sand and ignored it. But if we are going to invite people in when our toilets are broken, then we must ask those people to help us make the repairs. In other words, we really need to take advantage of the fact that we are a very attractive tourist destination. And that means raising taxes on tourists. She is not really a huge fan of capitalism, but there is a phrase about charging what the market can bear. The people that come here have disposable income to come to . And that is a good reason to tap into the TAT. Chair Adams reiterated what she heard listening to the Council meeting. The request was made to dedicate the TAT to certain things. While environmental protection was not one of the areas, because there was more focus on parks, but at this stage, we may need to go to your individual 3 Council Members to do some lobbying. They might have one more reading on the bill. So there is still an opportunity. Again, if the Commission would like, we could send in our own comment on the TAT to the Council, and voice an opinion. Not sure where you want to take it, she said. She was talking to her Council Member, and others can do that. 3 Bill No. 81, Draft 2, passed final reading of the Council on December 8, 2021, and was approved as Ordinance No. 21-89, effective December 10, 2021. 7