Georgetown: The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is foreseeing a significant jump in its revenue this year, giving credit to the new revenue collection mechanisms being put in place and existing money sources the Municipality is now better able to tap into.
This was the view of City Treasurer Ron Mc Calmon when he addressed newly appointed Georgetown Councilors during their orientation session at the Cara Lodge last week.
The treasurer gave an overview of his department, while acquainting Councilors with the Municipality’s various sources of revenue generation.
“We expect our revenue to increase by 11 percent this year,” he told the Councilors before outlining various areas where the Council intends to strengthen its revenue collection. For instance, Mc Calmon said, there are 150 properties currently registered with the Municipality that have changed their status from a residential property to a commercial one, but are paying the same meagre rates.
“Some of these people are paying $2,000 annually, $1,000 and even $800 for these properties,” Mc Calmon said- with affirmation from some seasoned Councilors who nodded and clapped to the truth of the information. Mc Calmon spoke on the valuation and re-evaluation of properties to determine the actual sums owed to the Municipality.
He noted that better car and bus park management, land leases, revenue from new and rehabilitated vending spaces and revenue collection from container operators, among others will also increase the Council’s fees. In relation to containers, the agency intends to convene a special team to identify those persons offloading containers within the city during the night hours to avoid paying the due sums to the Council. “So we will be working overtime for those persons,” Mc Calmon insisted.
After pointing to several other existing money earners, the Treasurer said his department is responsible for all of Council’s revenue and expenditure, including those of other departments. Mc Calmon urged the Councilors to work toward strengthening the Council’s financial abilities with strong policies. Despite the projected increase, the Treasurer is of the view that more can be done to increase the agency’s revenue especially with the number of projects and services that are intended to synchronize the returning Garden City with that of a green city lifestyle.
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