Gov’t votes down work permit fee reduction

A private member’s motion by
Opposition MLA Alden McLaughlin asking the government to reduce work permit
fees was defeated when the government members voted against the proposal.

Mr. McLaughlin said work permit
fees were hitting companies hard and threatening to put some small firms out of
business since the fees were increased – some of which had been tripled – in
January.

He appealed to the government to
reverse the permit fee hikes and bring the fees back down to pre-January
levels.

None of the government members
chose to debate Mr. McLaughlin’s motion during the Legislative Assembly meeting
Thursday and all the government members present voted against it.

Mr. McLaughlin said the increased
fees were putting many businesses in Cayman under financial pressure, adding
that lowering the fees would stimulate Cayman’s economy.

The increase in the fees was part
of a raft of measures introduced by the government to try to increase government
revenue.

“It is not just about the revenue
situation for government – whether or not this has had the desired effect – it
is perhaps even more about the impact this has had and is having on the
economy, and particularly upon the fortunes of businesses, especially small
businesses,” Mr. McLaughlin said.

The George Town MLA said small
businesses were struggling not just to make a profit, but to survive.

He added that small businesses were
“having a very difficult time, [and] are feeling pressure from the sluggish
economy and from operational costs that they have to incur just to keep their
doors open. A significant part of that for many businesses is the cost of work
permits,” he said.

The fee hikes for work permit
holders range from an extra $60 per year for attendants in the tourism industry
to nearly $8,000 per year hike for trust officers and administrators.

Reading from a list of work permit
fees for specific jobs, Mr. McLaughlin pointed out that work permit fees for
secretaries had more than tripled under the fee increase, from $1,100 per year
to $3,500; a permit for an accountant with a professional certification had
risen from $7,500 a year to $10,500 a year; and for accountants without
professional certifications, it had doubled from $4,000 a year to $8,000 a
year.

Permits for attorneys went up by
$5,000 a year and that executive level marketing positions had seen doubled to
$8,000 per annum.

Mr. McLaughlin’s motion, which had
been seconded by North Side independent MLA Ezzard Miller, was defeated six
votes to five.