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City Hall ‘can access’ municipal court funds

Aug 20, 2008 News

City Hall’s financial capacity could be significantly boosted if senior officials at the municipal entity would take the time to make a simple request for funds that emanate on a daily basis from matters that arise in the municipal court.
This revelation was made by an official close to the operation of the municipal court who finds it very alarming that the cash-strapped City Council does not take advantage of the fund which eventually finds its way into Government’s coffers.
The municipal court which is operated out of Court Ten at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court building is presided over by Magistrate Ann McLennan.
Cases for matters ranging from littering to defaulting taxpayers are among those that are heard at the court and, according to the source, fines can amount to in excess of $80,000 per month.
It was related that the fund was last accessed in the early 90s when former Mayor, Mr Compton Young, officiated over the operation of municipality.
The source said that on a monthly basis, during Mr Young’s tenure, a request was sent to the office of the Clerk of Courts requesting a certain amount of the monies paid to the court that relates to municipal offences.
After being reviewed by the Clerk of Courts, a voucher is then prepared and sent to the Accountant’s Department before it is dispatched to the Supreme Court where it is processed. A cheque is then prepared to the tune of the requested sum which is made available to the City Council, it was noted.
The source explained that the council is always fully aware of how much is paid to the court for each case from which it is able to base how much can be requested at any one time.
However, according to the official, this practice came to an abrupt end after Mr Hamilton Green was in 1994 elected to the office of Mayor.
The source said that while there has been talk of accessing the monies, no official from City Hall has made any attempt to secure the funds which continues to be deposited into the Consolidated Fund.
But according to officials from City Hall, efforts have been made over the years to access a portion of the monies that are paid to the court.
According to City Mayor Hamilton Green, as part of the municipality’s quest to garner additional funds to fulfil its mandate of keeping the city in an acceptable state, attention has for sometime been directed to the municipal court.
The Mayor said that he had on a number of occasions personally sought audience with top officials of the judiciary in order to have the funds released.
He pointed out that the municipality had even sought to have fines increased but yet cannot access the funds.
He added that often matters in the court are dealt with in a slothful manner, which sometimes serves to further incapacitate the already depleted human resource competence of the council when officers are forced to remain in court for prolonged periods.
Public Relations Officer of the Council, Royston King, in mirroring the Mayor’s remarks, said that the council has been making representation for the money in order to help the municipality execute its enforcement of the by-laws.
However, this newspaper was informed that while the city officials continue to highlight the dilemma, no effort has been made for more than a decade to actually access the fund which is simply dependent on a request.

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