Dear Editor,
The Mayor and City Council has not always been portrayed in a very flattering light. Nonetheless, there is need to take a look at the positive side of things while reiterating some of the more familiar challenges the council faces.
The council has, for a number of years, been faced with very tight budget constraints. The consequences of this have been council’s inability to provide regular and efficient services to the populace which it serves. A large portion of council revenues comes from the collection of rates and taxes, special levies and market fees. In some instances, funding may come from external sources through project funding.
For over two decades, property valuation has not been conducted to update the rates and taxes for many property owners in Georgetown. So it is for this reason that many, including commercial property owners, get away with the near criminal act of paying ridiculously low rates and taxes, or in some instances neglecting to pay them at all.
In a sense, the private sector holds the council to ransom by constraining its ability to convert revenues into efficient services for the residents of Georgetown. In excess of $16 billion is currently owed to the council. This represents about five years of services to sustainably maintain the city.
However, $1 billion is by no means a tiny sum in the coffers of the council; it is a lot and could contribute towards improving the management of Georgetown. The city is dependent on citizens and the business owners of Georgetown paying up this sum. The council even went as far as having three months of amnesty in 2015 to encourage defaulters to pay their accrued balances on rates and taxes, less the interest. The response was indeed good but still the outstanding sums are a significant portion of the council’s budget on which it is highly dependent.
And while there are those who are bent on dishonouring their civic duty of paying their share of taxes, there are good law-abiding citizens, who empathize with the city and take full responsibility to honour their debts. For this the council is grateful and sends a sincere thank you to these residents. Though faced by these constraints, the council continues to work assiduously to serve the residents. In 2015, the Mayor and City Council would have reached out to local communities and contributed in a more tangible way to the economic development of Guyana.
As most citizens would recall, there was the massive clean-up initiative around the city, which was pioneered and managed by the council and supported by central government. This initiative would have provided temporary employment to more than 2000 residents from different local neighbourhoods in the city. This clean-up campaign came with a hefty price tag of $170 million dollars. In hindsight, it would appear that this was just an activity for the purpose of aesthetics. However, it had far-reaching consequences which benefited the ordinary person.
It is a fact that most of these clean-up ventures were spearheaded by community groups led by women. This would have impacted positively on the income for these households, albeit the employment was temporary. The aggregate multiplier effects of this temporary income generation would have also benefited the private sector where most of these funds would have been spent on consumption goods, as well as to provide an enabling environment which allowed businesses and corporations to enhance their profitability.
Despite the challenges and financial constraints, the Mayor and City Council will continue to work diligently towards the development of a better Georgetown. We care enough to do our best.
It is the council’s hope that it will be transformed to one where service provision and professionalism are second to none. Continuous efforts will be made to ensure that all outstanding sums owed to the council are fully repaid and used effectively for the sustainable enhancement of the City of Georgetown.
Yours faithfully,
Royston King
Town Clerk
City of Georgetown
