But there is little appetite for holding off on projects to drive the wider economy, according to one deputy.
At a presentation hosted by former politician Carl Meerveld, about 70 islanders turned up on Sunday afternoon to hear what deputies Simon Vermeulen, Rob Curgenven, Haley Camp and Liam McKenna had to say on the controversial issue.
‘The electorate voted in an anti-GST government. The majority of deputies did not support GST, including the current P&R,’ said Deputy Vermeulen.
‘We have to drive this economy, and that doesn’t mean building a runway in Alderney for £20m. and getting Guernsey taxpayers to pay for it. I’m all for tightening our belts and making some savings, but I don’t see much appetite for that.
‘We have to live within our means and that might be saying no to certain projects, or evaluating whether we can afford to keep giving out overseas aid and paying unemployment benefits.’
First-time politician Deputy Camp said that implementing GST-plus would be jumping to a solution without looking whether it would actually fix anything.
She said the island would still be having the same conversation in 5-10 years’ time.
‘GST-plus might be part of a solution right now, but it’s being sold to us as the only solution,’ she said.
‘We have to consider, first of all, the States’ financial illiteracy. When I’m one of 40 people making those decisions, we need to understand that.’
A question from the audience asked how many civil servants had been sacked due to government project failings outlined by ex-deputy Carl Meerveld.
He responded that one or two people had lost their jobs, but ‘nowhere near enough in my opinion, and that’s how you get accountability in the real world’.
President of Policy & Resources Lindsay de Sausmarez asked to speak, stating that she had a huge amount of confidence in new chief executive Boley Smillie.
‘If anyone is found to have acted improperly, they are not getting pay-offs. Some heads have rolled already. It would be politically easier to keep quiet, but we are determined that we are not going to just sweep it under the carpet,’ she said.
‘When I was elected, I stood on a platform of wanting to make sure that no stone was left unturned. I have never voted for GST, and I’m very keen to find an alternative, as is the rest of my committee.
‘Efficiency is a non-negotiable in the tax reform conversation, that is our number one priority. Public expenditure reductions we are also looking at. Some reductions can be made without impacting public services.’
Deputies McKenna and Vermeulen have lodged an amendment to take the prospect of GST off the table completely.
Deputy McKenna said that with money lost and wasted was only going to get worse.
‘The money has to come from somewhere, but I’m pleading with politicians, particularly Policy & Resources, saying that we have a broken system, let us fix that broken system first before we punish the hard-working families in the community,’ he said.
‘Our amendment is going to take it off the table. Instead of what percentage we should put on food, we won’t even have that conversation.
‘The deputies who vote for or against it, you’ll know who they are. If they vote against it, it’ll be coming back in June and there will be rallies.
‘This is round one of a championship fight.’