Officials from St. George's are to meet Government to try to thrash out a new tax formula to ensure the Old Town has enough money to run properly.

St. George's Mayor Henry Hayward said the town's annual income of around $2.1 million is $700,000 short of what is needed.

The Corporation of St. George, which has 14 employees doing cleaning and maintenance work, needs an extra six staff to keep the streets properly clean and nearby roads, he said.

Mr. Hayward is meeting Government on Wednesday to try to work out a new formula which would involve St. George's getting a share of tax revenue Government currently gets for fuel landed at the oil docks.

In exchange, the Old Town would be willing to give up the revenue it gets from freight going through the Airport.

Mr. Hayward said this new funding structure should be enough to make up the shortfall.

He said the new formula should deal with the issue of "double taxation," which St. George's residents complain about, whereby they pay land tax to government and cash to the Corporation for trash collection.

"The $2.1 million revenue is still not sufficient for us from the labour point of view to operate the town," he told The Royal Gazette.

"We are concerned about sewage protection with the machinery breaking down. Government has been cooperative to the extent that they have given us assistance.

"We have been meeting with Government for the past year with reference to the infrastructure of the town, the sewage and water, and also the fact of reviewing the tax basis, but it is dragging on and we are concerned about it.

"Government and ourselves should sit down to review the whole revenue structure. The Government could take the revenue we get from the Airport and we could get a revenue source from the liquid fuel so that the whole of Bermuda could contribute to the running of the historic town of St. George."

Mr. Hayward said one problem was that Government owned a lot of roads from former British military garrisons which were not always kept in a tidy state, but residents wrongly blamed the Corporation for not keeping them up to scratch.

He added he was "hopeful" the Corporation and Government could come up with a formula that would result on the Old Town being properly funded.