Council’s poor image hurting revenue collection, but…
-despite garbage woes
CHAIRMAN of the Implementation Committee of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the Mayor and City Council, Mr. Keith Burrowes says the Council’s image is having a negative effect on the public in terms of their willingness to fulfill their obligations.
But an increase in delinquency as a result of this negative image is just one of the factors plaguing the Council, as another is the absence of data that could be reviewed to see the kinds of trends evolving that are necessary for decision-making.
According to the Chairman, the public needs to be kept abreast of what is happening at the City Council, as of late, the information coming out of there leaves much to be desired.
The Commission of Inquiry, whose report was presented to the Minister of Local Government and the Mayor and City Council in 2009, was deemed necessary after the 2008 Auditor General’s Report raised several issues about the management of the City’s affairs with regard to transparency, accountability, efficiency and revenue collection.
The Terms of Reference also required then Commissioner of Inquiry Burrowes to pronounce on the culpability, if any, of the Town Clerk and the City Treasurer in the areas of investigation, and to report his findings to the Local Government Minister. The report of the Commission of Inquiry recommended the removal of Town Clerk Beulah Williams and City Treasurer Roderick Edinboro, and removed they were.
Burrowes said Local Government had since advertised the posts at reference, but because the persons who applied to fill those positions did not meet the requirements as stipulated, they had to be re-advertised and the Ministry is now in the process of examining those applications with a view to narrowing them down for selection.
“Our intention is not to wait for the financial situation to improve [before acting],” he said, adding that most of the recommendations will be implemented over a period of time, commencing from the present. “Hopefully,’ he said, “once we implement the recommendations attitudes will change and the situation would not recur in the future.”
Burrowes said that since the end of the Commission’s work, the Implementation Committee has been working feverishly. “We have developed a client database at no cost to the Council. We hope to sanitise current records so that the Council will have more accurate information and as such will be able to respond in a timelier basis,” he said, adding that in the event of litigation with clients, the Council will have a stronger case before the courts because of the integrity of the information. Further, he said that the new database will allow the Council to view all the information regarding a client and his or her activities with the Council. Giving an example, he said that should a client apply for a barber’s licence, that licence will be withheld until the client clears arrears for, say, property taxes. Burrowes said that in this way, the Council could put pressure on a client and therefore enhance compliance.
(Other IT initiatives by the Implementation Committee will be dealt with in a subsequent article)

Debt recovery
Burrowes said that the Implementation Committee, with the aid of the Council’s Finance Committee, has put together a debt recovery manual to help the Council to have a clearer approach to debt collection. “It is the intention of the Implementation committee to provide training for the individuals that would be involved in the Debt Recovery Unit,” he said, adding that the result now being achieved such as the Unit’s coming into being is not the end result of the work of the work of the commission of Inquiry.
“Once we implement the key factors of the manual and people are trained, we will not see the results for another year or two. But it is helping to change attitudes of the City Council workers in engaging clients who owe,” Burrowes said, adding that it is hoped that by the end of the year there will be a proper Debt Recovery Unit in place.
He said that prior to the work of the Commission of Inquiry, the M&CC had NO documented internal financial systems. “We have now developed internal controls and financial manual and working to implement controls and provide training. As the Chairman of the Implementation Committee it is very time consuming to go back years to check, but once these systems are put in place using external audit as a base, some of these issues will not recur,” he said. He said too that all that the Committee is seeking to implement are as a direct result of the issues that the Auditor General has raised in his report.
Burrowes noted that unless the Council implements the necessary internal systems, “you cannot determine how successful, you would be unable to determine how successful your revenue generating is. If you don’t have proper accounting records then your business may be operating at a loss and you may not even know it. You need to manage what you have before you engage in other areas,” he said.
Burrowes said that he understands the urgent need for the Council to engage in more revenue-generating activities. But he noted that if the Council does not have in place the kind of mechanism now being implemented, it would not know if the money it is getting now is likely to have a direct impact on improving the services that it provides.
He is adamant that he could prove that “if you put these things in place, you could enhance revenue collection by 30 or 40 percent.” He made the statement in response to critics of the work of the Committee and the COI.
The Council’s total expenditure as of the end of May 2010 is approximately G$639M. The majority of 46 percent of the amount was for payment of salaries, 12 percent going towards removal of garbage, 9.3 percent being disposal of solid waste. The amount expended for the period January to May 2010 is approximately 31 percent of the total budgeted figure for the year 2010.
Burrowes said that the Council is looking at properties that have been disposed or that have changed hands with a view to ascertaining whether or not the requisite compliance fees have been paid. Burrowes said that upon checking, he was surprised by the number of properties sold for which monies had been owed the Council. He said that a system will be put in place for staff of the Council to monitor the Official Gazette with a view to tracking properties that owe the Council. He said that the changes are necessary because they have implications for the payment of rates and taxes.
The Chairman of the Implementation Committee said that it is necessary for the Council to strengthen what they are doing now “before you look to other areas of revenue collection.” He said that they must be able to determine whether the new areas will generate revenue.

Private Sector engagement
Burrowes said that prior to the present crisis that the Council now finds itself in with regards to solid waste disposal in the City, the Implementation Committee and the Finance Committee had held talks with the Private Sector Commission with a view to identifying areas of cooperation.  “We did get several commitments from the members of the private sector in areas that are willing to look at as part of their corporate social responsibility. I was optimistic after the PSC meeting and happy to note that the as a follow up to that meeting, the Council engaged the PSC further. I am aware that there is some level of support particularly in relation to the current crisis,” Burrowes said.

Communications
Burrowes said that coming out of
the COI’s work, the need for communication, both external and internal, was noted. He said that the lack of sharing of information within the organization created enclaves that are not working in the best interest of the Council. He said that another notable factor is the way the Council communicates to the general public. He said that at present, the communication pattern revolves around a crisis situation “when it is my firm belief that there should be ongoing public messages and activities and these should be monitored as we begin to capture information that could be analyzed down the line.

Below are charts showing revenues earned, revenues and expenditures by departments, estimates against actual in 2009 and projected revenue by departments for 2010.

>>>>>>>

Some of the key recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry as relates to issues in this article are:
–    To have a comprehensive review of the Council’s IT systems with sanctions against officers involved in procuring software inconsistent with the Council’s directives
–    To reconfigure the job descriptions of Town Clerk and Deputy Town Clerk with knowledge of the statutes being a prerequisite for employment
–    To have rates and taxes collection organized by wards
–    To establish a debt recovery unit
–    To establish a mechanism for provision of comprehensive empirical information governing every process of M&CC activities to be standardized and accessible
–    Reconfiguration of the Public Relations Department into Communications Unit, with mandate for both strategic public relations, as well as internal communications
–    Service of Treasurer and Town Clerk to be terminated
–    To develop private sector partnerships to facilitate more structured approach to management