Something seems to be not quite right with the accounting at City Hall, or if it is, there is a huge misunderstanding that needs to be cleared up.
For years the city had carried the prefix ‘cash-strapped’. Those were the days when it seemed to lurch from crisis to crisis; one month it would be the employees who could not be paid for want of funds, the next it would be the contracted garbage collectors. It was widely known that government entities were not paying rates ‒ or not on time. Some citizens were not paying rates either and the council’s accounts were constantly in the red. Services provided to citizens—even the paying ones—were at a minimum.
But then things changed in 2015. There was, of course, a change of government. Then government began to address some of the issues like drainage and cleaning up the environment, with the assistance of private citizens. Immediately, even before local government elections, City Hall was galvanized into action. Things began to work again, but it got to the point where clearly there was too much on the city’s plate.
Citizens would have been satisfied with at least having the basic services done and done well. However, long before the new council was elected, the Town Clerk undertook massive unnecessary projects like the Presidential Park, which is currently in limbo.
Questions had been raised about where the money for that and other things was coming from, given the city’s former cash-strapped status. There had been a rate amnesty which many property owners took advantage of, but surely it did not mean that money was to be squandered.
As it is, we learned that at Monday’s statutory meeting, figures were declared to the effect that revenue collection from January to June this year amounted to $1.29 billion. But hold the bells and whistles, the city is still operating at a deficit.
Asked to explain the expenditure, the City Treasurer basically told the councillors that on average, the city spent $200 million a month. Using the month of June, in which revenue collection was $135 million, he reported that 48% or $76 million represented employment costs, while $18 million represented employment overheads, $90 million represented operating expenses, $15 million represented maintenance expenses and $1 million represented other expenses.
Definitely, there was a deficit in June. But a total of $1.29 billion over six months means that there would have been months where the city broke even and there might even have been meagre savings. However, let’s back the script up a bit. In May this year, both of the city’s garbage contractors said that they were owed large sums of money. Puran Brothers had placed the sum it was owed at $60 million, while Cevons Waste Management declined to give the figure, only saying it was a large sum. If payments for these crucial services are not included in the roughly $90 million a month in operating expenses, then what is?
Added to which, the city has an outstanding debt of $200 million to the contractor who was building the Presidential Park. Then there is the Kitty Market rehabilitation. Is the city funding it from its coffers? Or is this another debt in the making?
In the meantime, there is a lot of work that is not being done, road maintenance and repairs being at the top of this list. With the exception of Brickdam, which was done by central government for the May Jubilee celebrations, nearly every other street in the city needs attention. The rainy season has only made them that much worse.
Clearly the city’s revenue is way below what its expenditure is, but surely $200 million a month if spent judiciously could do much more. City councillors have been asking questions about the city’s financials which have mostly gone unanswered. In fact, they should not have had to ask since as members of the council, they should have been party to the decisions being made on expenditure.
They complained at Monday’s meeting that procedural issues and red tape were being used to frustrate them. Requests for a breakdown in the expenses have not been heeded; instead the City Treasurer only provided broad headings. PPP/C Councillor Bisham Kuppen has been trying at every meeting for months to move a motion for an audit of City Hall’s finances, but has been thwarted at every turn. In the interest of transparency, an audit ought to have been done even prior to the new council taking over, but it’s not too late now. Citizens have a right to know how the council is spending the revenues it collects from them, particularly given that certain services are wanting. To paraphrase a famous movie quote: ‘Show us the money!’
