Roatan’s road traffic is worse than on the mainland and I have no idea where we are going to put all these vehicles in a couple of years. Maybe we just ship back the ones that are no longer road worthy. These rust buckets are not only dangerous but a time waster as just one car accident or breakdown can and does paralyze the entire section of the island where it occurs. In my humble opinion no vehicle that can’t do 45 mph should be allowed on the main highway.

I understand that people do need to get around, but not by endangering other citizens and themselves. The main road is not currently designed to accommodate slow moving scooters. Maybe a bike lane would be a good plan for future road work. Or perhaps we could follow Bermuda’s lead and institute restrictions on the size and number of vehicles allowed per household.

Currently we have quite a collection of vehicles travelling our roads: 18 wheelers, dump trucks, heavy equipment with no restrictions whatsoever. Essentially, if you can afford to ship it over here, you can drive it anywhere. The population is exploding out of control and, as a result, so are the number of vehicles. We need decent public transport and minimal regulations that ensure that vehicles are road worthy so that we no longer must-read news reports where buses slide down hills due to maintenance failures.

It’s unfortunate that my tax goes to San Pedro and not Roatan.

Nobody keeps track how many cars and motorcycles arrive daily on the freight boats from the mainland and how many more are imported directly from the US. I am also curious as to the how many pay the municipal tax locally. Let me pause here. Every year we pay registration on our vehicles. This payment includes an automatically collected municipal but, by way of example, my car that was purchased at a dealership in San Pedro Sula, so the tax goes to SPS municipality.

Now, my car is polluting the air in Roatan, using the roads here, oil changes and old tires stay here. It’s unfortunate that my tax goes to San Pedro and not Roatan municipality. When I questioned this, the previous mayor stated he would investigate it and the then DEI now SAR offices stated that Roatan municipality would have to petition the tax offices to collect the tax locally.

Years ago, I remember having to get a sticker from the local DMV offices to certify my vehicle was road worthy and my local taxes were paid. That program is long gone.

In order to get a driver’s license in Honduras there are plenty of hurdles to jump. You must present your identification card if Honduran and residency card if a foreigner. You have to pass a medical exam and eye test, present a blood type card, you must attend drivers education class at the training facility from 8:00am to 3:00 pm, pass the written and practical test, take a psychological test and finally, reserve an appointment with banco Atlántida where you will pay for the license depending on the type and duration.

After all that you can drive out with a brand-new driver’s license and no freaking clue how to drive. Stay safe out there and only drive defensively my friends.

Trouble starts when a development goes under, other developer simply walks away after getting, or not getting his investment back. The 64-thousand-dollar question is who then becomes the person in charge of maintaining the common areas and collecting the fees for the water and electric to the homes and especially shared spaces.

Honduran patronatos are community organizations regulated by law that serve the people of a community and coordinate with them to build amenities such as water wells, community centers or sports arenas. The municipality is involved in the funding and decision making to determine if the petitions by the patronato are feasible and necessary. If, however, a community is private, locked behind gates with guards, it is under the rule of a single “Declarant.”

In this case, a different law applies the condominium law. Previously it was called the horizontal property law. That law sets the ground rules for ownership of condominiums and shared spaces. It stipulates the payment of fees and the manner the building, or buildings will be managed. It stipulates if and when the home owners will take over management of these common areas.

Be wary of new and flashy developers who have no real skin in the game.

There are so many grey areas in this law that one become confused trying to decipher it all. There aren’t any clear guidelines in the event of a dispute with the developer and the law does not set out a process how to handle such disagreements. Many projects on Roatan went bankrupt after the US market crashed and the Honduran “coup” of 2009 took place leaving people who bought land or condos in these developments holding the bag. The banks took over these properties and have done little or nothing to maintain, or secure the properties from looters.

There are developments that existed on the island long before the laws caught up to the reality. There are internal covenants and restrictions filed with titles to developments that directly contradict the current laws. These conundrums often end up in court and you all know my opinion of the court system so let’s not go there.

I’m writing this as a warning and as a person who lives under a HOA and not under the rule of a single “declarant.” In other words: “be careful where you purchase.” Make sure the project has a long history of great relationships with the owners and the developer and make sure the history of the upkeep of the common areas is decent.

Be wary of new and flashy developers who have no real skin in the game. Some developers have noprior real background in real estate development and are out for the quick buck. Read the fine print on those covenants and restrictions and make sure there is a property management office you can walk into to get answers. In my case it made a world of difference between my previous living conditions and my current one.

The biggest benefit Roatanians, Honduran biggest per capita tax payers is an understaffed, severely underfunded hospital we have had for the past 22 years. The new hospital under construction in Dixon Cove is being privately funded.

The most confusing and mysterious tax we pay is the security tax. This puzzling tax is automatically taken from our bank accounts, it’s two Lempiras per every thousand and goes to some government trust managed by some committee. Nobody has been able to give any public accounting for how much these taxes amount to.

The current government touts itself for transparency and they have a very pretty website that shows the projects that have been done with the funds, for example the car rentals for the police vehicles. Nowhere can I find the amount of money that is actually coming in or has come in since the project’s inception in 2011. Back then it was sold to the public as a temporary measure to build up the security forces and only later expanded to 10 years. I’m taking bets on it being extended another 10 years when it’s up. I’ll give you great odds. The last decree I found on this tax states the a special committee for the government trust is obligated to deliver a report on these taxes to another special congressional committee on security. Maybe our congressman could help with this.

The most confusing and mysterious tax we pay is the security tax

From a legal standpoint it’s impossible to get a RTN (tax registry number) on the island. It’s difficult at best and expensive at worse to get one on the mainland and they make you jump through many hoops to get it. If you’re a foreigner in a corporation forget about it. You need powers of attorney and notarized copies or original documents, an RTN and ID on each partner, the sacrifice of a virgin and a couple hundred bucks.

Here’s the kicker, the new tax laws state very clearly that the RTN for any business should be issued with the registry of the corporation, no further requirements. The new practices by the SAR are arbitrary and not founded in the law.

Speaking of laws, let’s talk about the new tax code; you would need to be an accountant, an attorney and clairvoyant to understand it. I did what any rational person would do and took a course with an expert who consulted for the government on this new law and had previously worked with the DEI. I asked the pertinent questions regarding the taxes affecting our local businesses, specifically real estate, and left more confused than when I started. So from my research and the “expert” opinion we are in the dark.

Here’s a list of some of the other taxes that will affect your day to day life and that don’t not just roll around once a year: Sales Tax (15% on food and 18% on alcohol and tobacco, 19% on tourism), Local Municipal Personal Tax and operating licenses, Municipal property taxes and Sales Taxes, Capital Gains Tax (on the mainland 10% and on Bay Islands 4%), Security Tax, Vehicle Registration Tax, Parrot Registry Tax, Import Taxes, Transfer Taxes on Land Sales, as well as local municipal tax on the same sale and registry fees for this same sale for title registry. There is also the very controversial 1.5% income tax law that was reformed in April.

The sad part is, with all the taxes we Roatanians pay, we don’t even have a local tax office we can present our complaints to. Then we might regret what we wish for: they just might have to introduce another tax to build one.