By Svetlana Marshall

The City Council today approved a $3.297 Billion Budget for the City for 2024. 

The approval of the city’s budget came hours after it was presented to the 30-member Council by Chairman of the Finance Committee, Councillor Lelon Saul, under the theme “Building a green, resilient, safe and sustainable city.” 

Councillor Saul told the Council that the budget will largely be funded through the acquisition of rates and taxes, which are expected to amount to more than $2.2 Billion.

The municipality is also projected to receive approximately $329M from its markets, $321.9M in container fees, and other fees totaling $358.8M, in addition to a $30M subvention from Central Government.

But with the Municipality’s expenses accounting for a large percentage of the budget, including some $1.2 Billion in employment costs and another $800M in operating expenses, Councillor Saul said there is an urgent need for added revenue streams to meet the growing demands of the city.

“As I speak, our main source of revenue is from the generate rates and taxes, and as you are all aware, the city is 70 square kilometers, and we have in excess of 350,000 persons living in this city, vast network of roads, drains, public open spaces, all which we must maintain. And so, there is that need not only to create new streams of revenue but also to get central government to honour the Fiscal Transfer Act. I want to remind you, that successive governments have failed to honour this Fiscal Transfer Act,” he said. 

He said the City Council will monetize its assets, a number of which are currently languishing in the system, and will also aggressively pursue delinquent and defaulting ratepayers, including Central Government and state agencies.

The Council also plans to collaborate with the Chief Valuation Officer in the production of valuation lists for areas that are not listed or should be amended.

“To ensure the council meets these targets, the focus will be on aggressively pursuing defaulters and delinquent ratepayers. Therefore, the council will implement the remedies under Section 220 of Chapter 28:01 – The Municipal and District Council Act to recover the rates owed. The following rate recovery measures will be implemented – as a civil debt, irrespective of the amount, under the Summary Jurisdiction (Petty Debt Act), applicable to ratepayers owing less than $100,000 and by distraint warrant on movable property of the person liable, whether such movable property is situated on the property in respect of which the rates are due or elsewhere,” the Finance Committee Chairman explained.

It was revealed today that more than $519.1 Million has been set aside in the budget for the maintenance of the City and another $299.3M has been allocated for capital expenses.

Councillor Saul said the municipality will continue to provide core municipal services through its City Engineers, City Constabulary, Solid Waste and Public Health Departments.

It was pointed out that the City Engineers’ Department alone is expected to expend $1 Billion this year, while the Office of the Town Clerk is in line to receive approximately $535M. 

But a number of the Councillors from the People’s Progressive Party poured cold water on the budget, telling the Council that the budget is far from realistic. 

“Today is June 5th, and we are presenting a budget on June 5th with lofty goals and ideas of how we can get to where we want to go. It is June 5^th and another budget is due on November 15^th…So, we have five months, and we don’t know how much we have spent in the first six months, so we don’t know how much is left from this estimate to be spent in the next five months. So, I think for me, it is unrealistic because we are now left with six months in the year,” Councillor Don Singh said. 

Councillor Singh said the Council ought to have been provided with financial report on the amount of revenues received so far for 2024, and information on expenditure. He also said it has fallen below expectations.

“In my opinion, while the budget is a steady budget, it is a bit of a copy and paste but what is doesn’t do, is respond to the explosive growth that is taking place in Georgetown, quite explosive. You just have to drive around and you will see buildings going up, roads being built, just a wide variety of things happening, and the budget does not even include one measure to address this growth,” Councillor Singh said. 

City Mayor, Alfred Mentore, in responding to the concerns raised, pointed out that PPP/C Councillors including Singh were actively engaged in the preparation of the budget, and are aware of the challenges confronting the city. 

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