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As Mayor and a member of our capital city’s municipal council, I can scarcely remember any day that I have not been asked the question, why is the City of Georgetown always short of money?
My fellow citizens, I can summarise the answer to that question in four words: People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration.
Permit me to explain.
The City of Georgetown gets money from two sources: an annual budgetary subvention from the Central Government, and rates (taxes) paid by property owners. The money is used to meet all of the City’s expenses.
The Government’s budgetary subvention currently stands at $30 million, which is a ridiculously tiny sum of money to service a country’s 30 square mile capital with a resident and visiting population of well over 250,000 people.
Those revenues must pay wages to the city’s staff including our city constables. Those funds pay for citywide garbage collection (for which at least 17 to 20 well-equipped, well-maintained trucks are required). Drains must be cleared, kokers must be maintained and staffed, parapets must be weeded, and the list goes on.
In simple terms, modern machinery, competent management, and most importantly, sufficient money is all needed if we want to enjoy a comfortable, clean capital city.
Fellow Guyanese, the problem is that the PPP administration is starving the Council of the money that we desperately need to carry out our duties. As we all know, the PPP is doing this out of spite. The Central Government believes that the residents of Georgetown do not support the PPP, so, the administration has decided to punish those residents.
Citizens, these are the facts.
When I became Mayor in 2019, I discovered that the municipality was owed billions in Rates (taxes). I have been doing everything I can to collect that money so that the people of Georgetown can have a proper standard of living.
Furthermore, as of today, the PPP administration owes the municipality almost $1 billion — part of that debt by the government is presently being used to repair the City Hall building after my team and I applied pressure to the Central Government.
Fellow Citizens, another way that the PPP administration is strangling the Council is by wilfully disobeying the law and refusing to do property valuations.
Rates (taxes) are calculated on the basis of the value of a property. With this in mind, the law — Section 5 of the Valuation for Rating Purposes Act, Chapter 28:04 — stipulates that valuations shall be done every five years. That valuation is to be conducted by the Central Government through the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Local Government.
A valuation has not been done since 1996.
When the APNU/AFC Government took office in 2015 the revaluation of properties commenced under the then Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan. As a result of the PPP’s refusal to obey the law and do property valuations this was no longer continued, the Mayor and City Council in many cases, collects only a few dollars in Rates (taxes) from the owners of properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Additionally, some property owners — including owners of malls and other billion-dollar businesses — have never paid any Rates (taxes) at all, and they get away with it because they have friends in high places.
Let’s evaluate the City of Georgetown Pre-Oil and Post Oil.
While municipalities funding depends mainly on property Rates(taxes) it is different Pre-Oil and Post-Oil. Pre-Oil, the Government Treasury did not have the means on its own to provide adequate funding to the local Government Bodies, now we can witness the changes of funding post-Oil.
Revaluation would have led to a greater number in property Rates(taxes) for property owners.
Now that Guyana is an oil rich economy and consistent with the Constitution and subsidiary legislation, which provides specific roles to Local Government bodies.
Guyana has evolved currently and is in a different place after Oil Exploration, these oil revenues can be equitably and evenly distributed that a revaluation for greater property taxes is not necessary because the burden of the state should not come from Citizens/Property Owners to fund the functions of the Local Government Bodies.
While I hope that I have answered your question about the reason for the shortage of money, you would be quite right to ask me what I intend to do about it.
To move forward, I am suggesting that the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development to Table improved legislation and policies (with consultation with Local Government Bodies) in Parliament for the Municipalities to be able to perform its full function with Authority
