City Hall faces budget deficit

Apr 29, 2011 News

– Unable to pay staff, contractors owed $70M

City Hall continues to suffer from an advanced budget deficit, a development which could see garbage contractors for the umpteenth time withdrawing their service from the municipality.
This newspaper has been reliably informed that the municipality has not been able to make payments to the contractors for the past three months, creating a debt which has amounted to some $70M.
And according to City Mayor Hamilton Green, the contractors have started to “act up…understandably so.” At the municipality’s most recent statutory meeting, he said that he tried to make contact with Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, on Friday last and on Tuesday too, to no avail, in an attempt to have government pay taxes for the first quarter of this year.
“This will allow some degree of elbow room,” Mayor Green added.
Town Clerk Mrs Yonette Pluck-Cort disclosed that so dire is the situation that salaries would not be payable this week, a state of affairs which has for some time characterised the payment pattern of the troubled municipality.
It is however Pluck-Cort’s belief that monies will somehow be accumulated to allow for the payment of wages and salaries in the new week. However, Councillor Patricia Chase-Green, in defending a no-confidence motion against the City Mayor on Tuesday, asserted that the municipality should not always be looking to Government to address its financial problems.
City Hall had earlier this year proposed a $3.2B budget for this year even with the realisation that it may not be possible without the intervention of Government.
Mayor Green had told this newspaper that the municipality was hoping to get urgent help from Government as it relates to expanding the municipality’s revenue base. In this regard a public forum was held by the entity’s Implementation Committee.
The meeting, according to the Mayor, was designed to solicit comments and recommendations from various stakeholders including Government Ministers and members of the business community.
“We are asking Government to underwrite our request for an increase in the revenue base because, as it is, we cannot close the gap…We need new sources of revenue,” the Mayor had stressed.
After bouts of consultation the budget was approved, but according to reports it has not been deemed realistic enough to allow for its presentation, hence the need for stakeholders’ support.
The preparation of the budget was characterised by Councillors attempting to strike a balance between the anticipated revenue and the provision of services and facilities to citizens and their local communities.
During the latter part of February there were several special meetings to allow for the consideration of estimates of revenue and expenditure for this year.
At those sessions municipal officers were given the opportunity to justify amounts they budgeted for various proposed programmes, activities and events, according to Public Relations Officer, Royston King.
He had noted that Councillors at those fora were permitted to raise questions of information and/or clarification on different aspects of the specific and general operation of departments.
Generally, the sessions were characterised by in-depth probing by Councillors, understanding of council’s precarious financial position and the quality of services available to citizens, King had disclosed.
But in spite of the evident efforts, the municipality has still not been able to effectively address its dire financial situation.

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City Hall faces budget deficit

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