Government is reconsidering some of its proposed new revenue measures as it fine tunes the budget in response to feedback from residents and businesses.
Premier André Ebanks said several fee increases announced during the budget process were still under review, including the controversial change to driving licence fees, which has yet to be implemented.
The proposal – which included a significant increase in fees for non-Caymanians – prompted public concern after it was announced.
Ebanks said, however, the principal challenge was not fairness, but how the system would operate in practice.
“I think they [the Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing] are looking at how best to operationalise that. So that’s still under analysis.
“They’re looking at it to make sure that they put something out that works.”
He said the primary concern was the ability to prove Caymanian status and indicated that the new national ID card system was one avenue. Ebanks added that there was possible scope for manoeuvre on the extent of the increases as the discussion continues.
He said not all of the revenue measures announced during the budget presentation are set in stone at this point.
Discussions around revenue measures
Some of the fee increases, which also included a new top rate of stamp duty on property transfers and additional financial services fees, have already been implemented.
Government announced as part of the budget presentation that it hopes to get $209 million dollars from a range of new measures over the two-year budget period.
Ebanks added that similar discussions were taking place around possible amendments to other prevenue measures, including proposed increases to liquor licence fees for restaurants and hotels.
“There are a couple in relation to commerce that I’m still looking at and going to work with the Chamber of Commerce to look at,” he said.
“For example, the amount of liquor licence fees for restaurants and hotels – we got initial feedback that they should be tiered. I want to maybe just go out [to consult] one more time and just test that.”
Ebanks said feedback from businesses suggested that when multiple fee increases were considered together, the cumulative effect could feed through to higher prices for consumers, and it was incumbent on government to “measure twice and cut once” when it came to fees.
At the same time, the premier acknowledged the government remained under pressure to raise additional revenue to support its spending plans and balance the budget. He said there may be other areas where increases could be made without the same impact.
Premier André Ebanks comments are taken from a wide-ranging interview with Compass Media on 5 Feb.
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Any increase in driving license fees to non-Caymanians must be considered only AFTER there’s a decent public transport system.
I’m told that the taxi drivers group is the second largest pressure group after the civil service. But there needs to be a proper public transportation system if we want to get cars off the road.
What worked when we had a population of 15,000 isn’t acceptable for a population of 70-80,000.
Good news Hon. Premier but please don’t lose sight of the elephant in the room: Public Service inefficiency and waste; very poor public project management; unnecessary vanity projects; unaccountability for all the preceding.
These are of no less priority.
Good to hear that Govt are looking at the fee increases, this approach is promising, and hopefully driving licence fees will be on the agenda. However, increasing revenue is only one side of the coin, the other is to look at a downward adjustment in it’s spending plans, do we really need to extend the runway?.
The Caymans do not have a revenue problem it has a spending problem. How many hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted on usless studies that have gone nowhere. Year after year vanity projects and projects that never acomplish anything but line the pockets of cronies. Caymanians be ware because when a government cannot legislate , it REGULATES! This slowly erodes your freedoms to have a say and vote on how to spend your tax dollars. Dr. Joseph Finley
I would like to know WHY the Naturalization application (BOTC British Overseas Territories Citizen) fee increased BEFORE the actual fee increase date? Applicants were forced to pay the increased fee online without any explanation or option. The increase was supposed to take effect on 1st March 2026. Thanks