piebaps Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Commissioners are entitled to £30 per meeting under current legislation, (which frankly is not a great deal of money if you consider the length of the meetings and the time required to wade through papers and prepare), but I believe a significant number of them opt not to receive any cash. Personally I think that any attendance payment (as a pose to a reimbursement of expenses) should be assessable to income tax else it makes a mockery of the tax system which is based on ability to pay, (and I didn't realise that such payments were not assessable). I'm not sure the exact position of our MHK / MLC's salaries and expenses, are they not as transparent as the UK? (or as the UK is now perhaps I should say?) Just my 2p The problem is the Councillor or Commissioner does not make the rules, so therefore we do not choose whether to declare or not. You're right JF, the local government act is an act of tynwald. I suppose you could pay extra tax voluntarily though. I,m sure Mr Bell wouldn't refuse. Maybe we all should It would certainly help out IOM plc in these tough times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaipyr Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Ramsey Commissioners expenses makes interesting reading - both for those who don't make any claims at all, and for those who claim to the hilt. As for the latter - hope it comes back to haunt them at next election time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ushtey Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 The problem is the Councillor or Commissioner does not make the rules, so therefore we do not choose whether to declare or not. In Onchan we get ours automatically. It's £30 per Board meeting of which there are approx 3 per month for 10 months. Any additional meetings are not reimbursed. I know some local authorities also pay for internet connections for their members as they provide laptops and send out information & papers via email, that's not currently the case in Onchan though. It would be interesting to compare what benefits are available to Commissioners/COuncillors aroudn the Island though. Personally I donate my allowances to charities of my choice each month, but I make the donations anonymously whenever possible. The Board room is within walking distance so I don't have the fuel expenses to cover. There are meetings that I attend during the day for which which I use leave from work. There is a cost of being a Commissioner. I am fortunate to own smart suits and can afford the extra telephone bills and cost of transport to meetings around the Island, but I know there are some people elected to positions on the island who cannot participate as much as they would like to because of this cost. They make up for it where they can, but if the allowances reflect the hidden costs of the position, then I would support reasonable allowances. But then again, I've also gone on record previously saying that to attract high quality MHK's we need to pay salaries that compete with the finance sector. After all, pay peanuts..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Personally I donate my allowances to charities of my choice each month, but I make the donations anonymously whenever possible. Whilst very admirable, it does nothing for you to be able to demonstrate that it was what you did with your allowance. Being anonymous would never help you if a select committee was established to investigate allowances paid to Commissioners. You have no evidence that you donated it to charity and if that were ever called into question, you may as well have spent it on chewing gum. Don't get me wrong, there are situations where I do not and have not made a claim for an allowance that I would be entitled to although if I had and I gave it to charity, I would still want an audit trail to be transparent and show what I did. For no other reason than to demonstrate honesty. If I haven't claimed it, I do not need to prove where it has gone. If I have claimed it, I would like to be able to prove that it was due and proper and where it was spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piebaps Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Good point Stav. Plus of course if you save up your £30 allowances into £100 chunks and then donate to IOM Registered charities, the donations are tax deductible too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 ...the donations are tax deductible too! Precisely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I am fortunate to own smart suits... You really should invest some of your allowances in a mirror! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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