FINANCE Minister Paula Cox revealed yesterday that she is to hold talks on double taxation with Corporation of St. George's officials.

After this newspaper raised the plight of the Bourne Drive group with Ms Cox , she said she understood the concerns of twice-taxed residents.

"As Minister of Finance, I shall be meeting with the Mayor of St. George, E. Michael Jones, and members of the Corporation of St. George soon to discuss matters of mutual concern, including the issue of double taxation," Ms Cox said.

"Government is aware that the revenue base of the Corporation is under pressure. As such, Government has contributed by way of grants and other means to assist with some of the major capital projects undertaken by the Corporation.

"I understand that the issue of double taxation is a major concern for residents in the municipal area.

"Therefore I look forward to the coming discussions with the Mayor and I shall be pleased to comment further after those discussions reach a feasible solution on this particular point."

During last November's elections for mayor, Mr. Jones pledged to end double taxation.

Opposition Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons said Corporation tax for residents of both St. George's and Hamilton should be scrapped ? and it should not be difficult for the Government to find the money to replace it.

"After speaking to a number of people in the Corporation, it appeared that this issue would not be too difficult to solve and I'm surprised that the Government haven't moved to do it," Dr. Gibbons said.

"Obviously we would need to make up the difference in taxation and that amount, when I last looked, was about $205,000 in St. George's.

"Those living in the town of St. George and a few people living in the City of Hamilton are the only ones who have to pay twice ? land tax and Corporation tax.

"When the PLP Government appreciably raised land tax, Corporation tax went up by a corresponding amount. So these taxpayers got hit twice."

In Hamilton, a small number of residents paid out a total of around $5,000 in Corporation tax, he added.

The taxes would be replaced by direct contributions from Government, he said, and he did not believe it should be too hard to find the money.

"It's a significant amount of money, but not not a vast amount in the context of a Government budget," Dr. Gibbons said.

"And I'd don't think the Government would have to look very far to find it. "You can talk about cutting waste in the Bermuda Housing Corporation and on the travel budget, for example.

"Everyone can appreciate the value of St. George and Hamilton to Bermuda and it's not fair that the people who live there should have to shoulder the whole taxation burden."