The Mayor and City Council received a sum of $42 million in payments during the first two weeks of the recently concluded amnesty on interest accrued on unpaid property rates and discussions are ongoing about an extension.
The announcement of the total payments was made on Tuesday by City Treasurer Ron McCalmon, who briefed the council on the status of the amnesty.
During the statutory meeting, councillor Oscar Clarke, who chairs the Finance Committee, said an extension is being discussed. The amnesty was due to end on Wednesday.
In announcing the amnesty last month, Town Clerk Royston King had explained that it was specifically targeting the business community, which owes the city in excess of $16 billion.
The amnesty was launched in hopes of helping the city to recover the large amount of outstanding debts to improve its financial status. Last year, a similar amnesty, offered from September to November, saw the city raking in more than $561 million in revenue.
A number of city projects, including the rehabilitation of the Kitty Market, have been affected by the city’s dire financial state and garbage disposal companies had threatened a strike due to substantial debt owed to them by the city.
