Island's highest rates rise 'not done lightly'

A local authority in the north of the Isle of Man has said the decision to increase its rates by 30.5% had not been taken lightly.

Andreas Commissioners last month announced the highest of the island's rates increases for the 2026-27 financial year.

Chair Jackie Faragher said it would pay for facilities provided by the local authority, including street lighting and public toilets, as well as meet other rising costs.

She said while the board had been "a little bit taken aback ourselves" by the figure, people should not get "hung up on" it as it only worked out at about an extra £1.50 a week.

Faragher said there were a "few reasons" why it was needed, including repairs to the local war memorial - which falls within the local authority's remit - as well as a rise in the contribution to the northern swimming pool.

She said ongoing issues over the Northern Civic Amenity Site had also had an impact since "everybody's having to pick up the slack on that".

The Department of Infrastructure is currently seeking a new operator for the tip after Ramsey Commissioners gave notice to stop at the end of March.

That followed the temporary withdrawal of Bride from using the site in a dispute over how much each authority paid.

Faragher argued the rates rise was unavoidable.

"I think when we've added it all up, I think we're a little bit taken aback ourselves," she said, "but we have to go forward."

She said while other authorities may have been able to continue to use their reserves to cover rising costs, Andreas was not.

"We don't have any reserves, we don't have a massive cushion," she said, "so obviously, it's on the rates."

But she suggested although the increase sounded large, it still offered value for money for ratepayers.

"In the grand scale of things, if everybody would just take a step back instead of being so hung up on the percentage, I think we're probably looking at maybe £1.50 a week on your rates," she said.

"Your shopping goes up, your petrol goes up, a night out goes up, everything goes up and I think for £1.50 there's lots and lots of facilities in the village.

"You've got street lights, you've got public toilets - there's so many things and they all have to be looked after at a cost."

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