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Having taken legal advice, the Constables of St Peter Port have been satisfied that the parish hasn't broken any laws in the way it has set its rates for the last few years.
The mystery first came to light in August when the parish had to confirm that its accounts hadn't been published for the last three years.
Questions started being asked about the implications of this - with a parishioner raising the issue at the parish meeting on 6 November.
They asked whether the budgets presented in 2022, 2023 and 2024 for the raising of parish rates were legal, because the financial information put forward was not based on properly prepared and audited accounts.
Having taken legal advice, the Constables of St Peter Port have now confirmed they are satisfied that the process of raising the parish rates in these years was lawful.
“Having confirmed the legal position in respect of the raising of parish rates, we continue to focus on the accounts for prior years which are currently with the auditors," said Senior Constable, Diane Mitchell.
"It is still our expectation that these will be completed and available for publication in January 2025.”
Pictured: Diane Mitchell is Senior Constable for St Peter Port.
This process is distinct from the requirements for the preparation and audit of the parish accounts which is covered under a separate Ordinance and there is no requirement for such accounts to be presented in the Remède process.
By law, each parish is expected to submit audited accounts to the Royal Court annually, so the parish remede can be set.
The remede is then used to levy the rates that resident pay.
The relevant Ordinance that has been checked requires that a parochial tax may not be raised without the prior consent of the ratepayers at a parish meeting convened for the purpose of discussing the levying of a parish tax, and the decision of that meeting subsequently being confirmed by an Act or Remède obtained from the Royal Court. With these requirements having been met, Ms Mitchell said the parish is satisfied that any rates raised as a result are lawful.
Pictured: Former Senior Constable of St Peter Port, Zoe Lihou met the King in July, before resigning from her post in August when the parish accounts mystery came to light.
The most recent set of published accounts for St Peter Port were 2020's, released in 2021. They were signed off by Zoe Lihou who was Senior Constable at the time. Lince Salisbury was contracted as 'independent auditor' then.
At that time, St Peter Port held net assets valued at £967,035.
Diane Mitchell was elected as Junior Constable in July but was thrust into the senior role in August when her former-colleague Ms Lihou resigned from the post when questions were asked about the missing accounts.
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