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City Hall workers to get 10% pay hike
City Mayor Ubraj Narine announced on Wednesday that the Council has approved a 10 percent salary increase for the staff of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.
Kaieteur News – Narine made the announcement during a news conference held at City Hall. According to the Mayor, the Council is committed to fulfilling its mandate despite meagre resources. The Mayor said that while the Council is still working on paying off its over $5B in debts, it still has an obligation to its staff. Therefore, he announced, a 10 percent increase in wages and salaries will be paid to the staff. He explained that 5 percent would be retroactive to January 2021 and 5 percent would be paid from January 2022.
City Mayor Ubraj Narine during the first press briefing of the year.
According to the Mayor, the Council will be relying on revenues coming in from amnesty being granted for rates and taxes to help pay the salary increases. He revealed that many businesses owe millions of dollars in property rates. “These are areas we are looking to generate this kind of revenue…the Local Government Commission had recommended a 7 percent increase for workers but City Hall’s Finance Committee recommended an additional 3 percent,” he said.
The Mayor revealed too that City Hall has cleared about $80 million owed to the Credit Union. He noted however, that those debts owed to the Guyana Revenue Authority and the National Insurance Scheme are still to be cleared.
When asked how the Council plans to sustain the salary increases, Narine told members of the media that he could not give any details but the finance committee already has the monies figured out. The Mayor noted too that it would be too soon to say whether there be will increases in rates and taxes. Narine noted that any increase in rates would be decided by Council. City Council has more than 600 workers on its payroll. The Mayor said that in the interim, the council will continue to advocate for a collaborative approach between Central Government and the Municipality to ensure that the capital city is maintained and adequately resourced.
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