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Residents express dissatisfaction with City Hall’s services
Mayor Hamilton Greene
During a recent meeting between the Mayor and City Council and some citizens of Georgetown, on Friday, the citizens expressed their dissatisfaction with the service meted out to them by the Council.
The meeting was to discuss next year’s budget for the Council.
However, according to the City’s Mayor, a figure was not disclosed but would be made available within another few days.
During the meeting, citizens were allowed to offer suggestions on the way forward with the budget as well as the Council’s financial crisis.
“Several persons expressed their dissatisfaction over the level of services they are getting from the municipality…but we brought them up to date with the difficulties we are facing,” Greene said.
He said that the issues at hand now were issues which he met when he took up office back in 1994.
“Even if we have better collection of rates and that is not optimum, the bottom line is to provide satisfactory services which our citizens deserve,” Greene posited.
He further reiterated the fact that the Council needs to have its revenue base broadened.
He added that during the meeting, the suggestions that were made were no different from those made back in 1994.
These, he said, include the Council receiving part taxes from vehicles which are registered in the city and container taxes.
He recalled that back in 1994, an Interim Management Committee was established by the government and even that committee had acknowledged that they could not manage the city on the existing tax base.
“I suggested a number of measures to broaden our revenue base and to increase our financial viability with the major proposal being a lottery,” Greene lamented.
He said this was met with strong opposition from the government who stated that it would not go down well with the religious communities.
However, Greene said shortly after, the suggestion was introduced to the public and now daily the lottery generates millions of dollars for the government.
“On the other hand, we are getting nothing except for a yearly subvention which the government decided to give us and which is grossly inadequate,” Greene said.
The Council continues to try relentlessly to collect outstanding revenue. Currently the Council is taking persons who have failed to pay their rates and taxes to court. Also some persons have already worked out payment plans for outstanding rates and taxes.
The Mayor is calling on citizens to pay their rates and taxes.
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