No One to Lose Jobs at Belize Tax Service During Transition

With big changes coming to the Belize Tax Service Department this December, one major question has been on everyone’s mind, what happens to the hundreds of employees currently working there? Early reports suggested major job cuts, with only one hundred and fifty-three positions under the new structure. But Director General Michelle Longsworth is setting the record straight. She says those rumors are nothing but mischief and insists that no one is losing their job. So, what’s really going on behind the scenes of this transition? News Five has the details.

 

Michelle Longsworth, Director General, Belize Tax Service Department

“I think what is being on social media is just a form of mischief making. We started having our sensitization with staff and the first thing we say in those sensitization session is that this government’s role is that no one will lose their jobs. So whether staff choose to transition to the SARA they have a choice or they can choose to remain with the public service and be put in a department in the wider public service. So, no one will lose their jobs. And I think for clarity what I need to say is that, they are talking about a hundred and fifty-three positions. Presently, the BTS has forty-two positions. But, we have two hundred and fifty staff members. A cashier position is one position but we have a cashier in each one of our districts. So even though the cashier is one position we have eight cashiers filling that position. A hundred and fifty-three position does not mean a hundred and fifty-three bodies. That is where the mischief making is and I need to clarify that. It is positions we are talking about not the actual incumbent that will hold those positions.”

 

Paul Lopez

“When it comes to SARA approach, or the statutory body approach, who becomes the overall managing authority of the Belize Tax Service as it moves in this direction?”

 

Michelle Longsworth

“So it is not a statutory body, it is a semi-autonomous revenue authority. It is not even a full blown revenue authority. So we will still fall under the ministry of finance but we will be governed by an advisory board. The revenue we are presently collecting will continue to be deposited in the consolidated fund. So it is not a statutory body. That needs to be made clear.”