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The Ministry of External Affairs,
International Trade and Civil Aviation wishes to assure the St. Lucian public
that any concerns regarding the status of the official residence of the
Ambassador to the United Nations in New York should be laid to rest. Indeed, the
matter of outstanding property tax payments to the Town of Harrison in New York
has already been settled, and any and all proceedings by that jurisdiction have
been discontinued.
When the Government of St. Lucia purchased the property in 2000, it was assumed,
that having received State Department approval for the transaction, tax
exemption status would have been automatic. On that basis, it was considered
(wrongly as it turned out) that statements of property tax assessments issued by
the town authorities were administrative errors. Having received those
statements repeatedly for two to three years, the Mission of St Lucia became
concerned and sought clarification from the State Department and the town
authorities, only to be advised that, notwithstanding State Department approval
for the transaction, a separate application for tax exemption from property
taxes from tie local jurisdiction (the Town of Harrison) bad to be made. This
application was immediately filed, and formal tax exemption status was granted.
With this process concluded, the Mission of St. Lucia embarked upon a series of
negotiations with the town authorities with a view to having them rescind the
taxes that had so far been levied. These negotiations, though time consuming,
were unsuccessful. The Mission engaged the authorities in a further series of
negotiations, this time to have the tax exemption status backdated but that
effort also did not bear fruit.
At the end of this process of negotiations, the Mission considered two options
open to it for the settlement of the outstanding payments. The first option was
to effect direct payment, while the second was to effect payment from the
proceeds of the sale of the property.
By then, a decision had been taken by the Government of St. Lucia to repair the
building and offer it for sale. As it happened, before the sale of the property
could take place, a listing of properties in default on tax payments (including
that owned by the Government of St. Lucia) was issued. As a result, the
Government of St. Lucia has had to resort to the first payment optic n, and has
effected payment of the amounts due to the Town of Harrison.
As indicated earlier, the property in question was purchased in 2000 for US$1.4.
Since that time, the value of the property has increased considerably, although
the harsh weather has taken a toll on the building. In 2003, the Government of
St. Lucia decided (on the basis of professional advice) that repairs should be
undertaken on the building, following which the property should be placed on the
market. The intention is to seek a replacement property for which the
maintenance and other costs would be lower than that which obtained for the
current property. The renovations are currently being concluded, and the
Government of St. Lucia has placed the property on the market with an initial
asking price of US$3.5M. The final sale price will of course be determined by
market conditions.
My Ministry regrets the misunderstanding surrounding this matter, and any
disquiet it might have inadvertently caused to the citizens of St Lucia, both at
home and abroad.
Signed: Julian R. Hunte
Sen. the Hon. Julian R. Hunte
Minister of External Affairs, International Trade & Civil Aviation.
New York
03/08/2004
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