In its quest to secure “urgently needed” funds, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown is offering a limited amnesty on the interest accrued on unpaid property rates in Georgetown.
This amnesty, which will begin on November 15 and end on November 30, 2016, is intended to recover a substantial portion of $22 billion in property rates owed to the city in order to pay the city’s creditors, including its waste disposal contractors.
According to a release from City Hall, this sum was presented in a report to the Town Clerk by the City Treasurer.
Speaking with Stabroek News last evening, Town Clerk Royston King explained that the amnesty is specifically targeting the business community, whom he has previously noted owes the city in excess of $16 billion.
King explained that the city hopes to use funds secured from this amnesty to pay waste disposal contractors Puran Brothers Disposal Inc and Cevons Waste Management, who have given notice to the M&CC of their intention to suspend their collection services from November 14 if they are not paid hundreds of millions owed to them.
“We hope to pay our garbage disposal contractors and work on maintenance of our outfall channels in preparation for the upcoming December-January rainy season,” King said.
A similar amnesty offered from September to November last year saw the city raking in more than $561 million in revenue.
That amnesty offered those who are in arrears with the M&CC an opportunity to clear their debt. Under the amnesty, residential property owners were offered a 100% waiver on the interest on the rates they owed to the council, while commercial and corporate property owners were offered a 50% to 75% amnesty dependent on special circumstances.
Stabroek News had previously reported King as saying that City Hall is attempting to raise necessary funds by engaging government as well as other partners, whom he did not want to name.
Puran Brothers and Cevons are contracted by the M&CC to clean up residential and commercial sections of the city since the municipality does not have the equipment needed to do the work itself.
King told Stabroek News last Friday that the council would have to develop a strategic plan to tackle the garbage situation if it is unable to make payments to the companies in time.
In August, the council had reassumed responsibility for garbage collection in several city wards due to its lack of finances but due to its inability to handle the service it was forced to once again relinquish the commercial district to Puran Brothers.
According to King, the M&CC is experiencing severe financial challenges “because we have stretched to reach out to local communities and we had to break the burden of 23 years after neglect of the city, which manifested into garbage and weeds in the drainages and a number of other things that affected the image of the country.“
He had called on property owners to pay outstanding rates so that the city can honour its obligations with contractors and provide vital services to communities.
In May, both firms had threatened to end their services to the council over debts owed by the city. Meanwhile, the city continues to rack up debt as its recorded expenditure continuously outstrips its recorded income. Last month, it spent $161,683,750, which is more than double its recorded income.
