Page 19 - David Coates News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

HOUSE valuations in Harwich could be set to boom as the town will begin to reap the benefits from its port gaining freeport status. It comes according to the latest research by the estate agent comparison site GetAgent.co.uk which showed houses in freeport zones increase in value. A freeport allows goods to arrive from abroad with a simplified customs procedure and tax relief, a process designed to encourage economic activity. The UK has previously had seven freeports in operation between 1984 and 2021 and the research shows their benefit to the housing market is clear. The economic...

HOUSE valuations in Harwich could be set to boom as the town will begin to reap the benefits from its port gaining freeport status.

THE Northern Echo and Darlington & Stockton Times' iconic 100-year-old home in the heart of Darlington has been sold for conversion into apartments. The purchaser is Darlington Borough Council, which plans to create an adult skills and training centre on the ground floor with Darlington College, although the council, the Echo and the D&S are exploring ways in which the papers could continue to be based on the corner site. Most of the money for the council's acquisition is coming through the Government's Towns Fund, which aims to create new futures for town centres. Councillor Heather...

Thu, 01/28/2021 - 4:17pm -- tim by Don Turner 2021 marks 25-years since then-Treasurer Jim Douglas recommended that the state change its trajectory from costly "defined benefit" retirement plans for state employees and teachers to "defined contribution" plans. Eleven years ago, in 2009, a special commission suggested a consideration of this same idea. I have previously written about our pressing need to consider a defined contribution option, as well as the "sleeping giant" of our unfunded liabilities. Unfortunately, since the time I wrote my opeds in 2019, Vermont's unfunded liabilities ...

Mon, 01/25/2021 - 1:23pm -- tim by David Coates, KPMG (retired) For over ten years, these columns have been critical of the treatment of the state’s retirement systems (state employees and teachers) which now in their present forms, are neither sustainable nor affordable without significant reforms. This has just changed with the State Treasurer’s report to the Legislature. The Treasurer and I have disagreed over the years on how to solve these problems.  However, I must acknowledge and commend her for the recommendations she has made to the General Assembly on how to reduce pension and ...