Higher licence fees for swimming pools

Joe A Ellul

Nov 6th 2008, 15:01

I own a medium sized pool but I never use tap water to top up. I top up from my well which is filled from rain water collected from my large roof, which would have gone to waste, like most rain water in Malta. If that runs out, which is rare, I buy the fresh water from authorised dealers which incidently includes Vat. I do not see where this great demand on water is. My yearly fee was E174.70 (Lm 75) which was a fair amount and I do not mind a reasonable increase. I hope rumours that the increase in fees are going to be hefty are unfounded.

J Aquilina

Nov 6th 2008, 07:14

@ A Cardona
The price from fresh water pools is per cubic meter and for sea water is one lump sum irrispective of the size of the pools.
What i question is the number of pools registered, ie 2000. Can MRA install google earth on their computer and have a good look from the sky. There are more than 2000 in Gozo alone
And what about these temporary pools. Don't they use fresh tap water and electricity?

Mark Thorogood

Nov 4th 2008, 12:32

@Maria Buttigieg

I can't read Maltese, so I don't know what the budget docs says, but the old charges of €2.33 is per m3 and the € 58.23 is per pool
http://docs.justice.gov.mt/lom/legislation/english/subleg/244/01.pdf - see page 4

Maria Buttigieg

Nov 4th 2008, 10:24

@Mark Thorogood

it doesn't specify in the budget doc. whether it per m3 or per pool...

philip pace

Nov 4th 2008, 09:01

I don't have a swimming pool and shall never own one and I am not the only one.
So this measure would not affect me.
Maybe the new villas that shall be built would have a synthetic swimming pool just like this budget.

Ronnie Gauci

Nov 4th 2008, 02:22

I think that the €50 fee will stop dozens of millionaires from building their pools.

Mark Thorogood

Nov 3rd 2008, 23:16

tap water fee is per m3 of capacity, sea water is per pool

Adrian Cardona

Nov 3rd 2008, 23:15

@ Suzanne Buttigieg
so if i pay 100 euros it's ok for me to contaminate the aquifer... Is that your reasoning? If you want to eliminate the risk of contamination, just ban the use of sea water, not tax it. So much for the government's green credentials...it's all about money.

l Galea

Nov 3rd 2008, 22:53

I Abela
You must be joking.
Hotels fill their pools with fresh water not sea water.
Otherwise why should the tourists use their pools with chlorine and other chemicals and using sea water when the sea is just a stone's throw away and is without chemicals?
Go check.

I Abela

Nov 3rd 2008, 22:32

Dear Suzanne, open your eyes and don't make a fool of yourself. This tax is aimed so that the government makes more money from hotels, bacause all major hotels which are close to the shore use sea water for their pools. There might be some people who use salt water in their inland property but these are very few since the maintenance costs of salt water equipment dwarfs the cost of fresh water. Your argument that this tax is aimed to prevent damage to our aquafier really doesn't hold water. Also one may register his pool as fresh water and still fill it up with salt water, who's gonna know?

l Galea

Nov 3rd 2008, 21:57

Lower fees for using fresh water than when using sea water. Inverted reasoning. Only in Malta and only by the Gonzipn Government

Maria Dolores Fenech

Nov 3rd 2008, 21:44

whoever owns a swimming pool, can afford to pay higher taxes. But as Adrian Cardona pointed out the new fees do not make sense!

Suzanne Buttigieg

Nov 3rd 2008, 21:27

Dear Adrian
The reason is because of the risk of contaminating the aquafer when sea water pools develop a leak.

Adrian Cardona

Nov 3rd 2008, 20:55

"the fee for tap water domestic pools is being increased from €2.33 to €4 and that for sea water pools from €58.23 to €100"
If pools are causing such a demand on water, why the hell is the fee for tap water pools 4euros,and for sea water 100euros??!! Does not make sense at all