THE Mayor and City Council’s (M&CC) budget for this year will be presented with a deficit, Acting Public Relations Officer Debra Lewis told the Chronicle on Wednesday. In an invited comment, she said Chairman of the Implementation Committee, Keith Burrowes, along with Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green, is currently assessing the budget.
Ms. Lewis could not say when the financial statements will be made public, but Councillor Ranwell Jordan said, also in an invited comment, that the council would first have to deliberate on it before its presentation.
Jordan said officials of the Council met Wednesday to discuss the financial crisis within the municipality and that discussions centred on the budget as well. He maintained that it has not yet been approved by Council.
According to Jordan, Councillor Junior Garrett gave a vivid picture of what should be done for the presentation of the budget and the position the municipality should take in relation to proposals it plans to make to government.

M&CC hosted a ‘pre-budget’ stakeholder’s meeting with invaluable assistance from the Implementation Committee on last March 24.
Its purpose was to provide insights into some of the constraints faced by the municipality and Mayor Green observed that such meetings usually produce significant benefits.
Several officers of the Council, as well as citizens, had an opportunity to voice their concerns. Also in attendance was Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jennifer Webster.
The meeting was held at the Impeccable Banquet Hall, Brickdam, Georgetown.
Mayor Green, shortly after, lamented that, even if the municipality manages to collect the maximum taxes, the amount would still be insufficient to provide a satisfactory service for citizens.
He told the Chronicle, at his office, that the 2011 municipal budget is predicated on the realities of the financial situation of the M&CC.
“That situation has not changed, but has worsened, because prices have gone up, salaries have gone up, and the equation remains the same,” Mr. Green declared.
However, he said the Council will redouble its efforts to collect revenue even though it is inhibited by the fact that it is not getting the valuation roll, although the Municipality has been pleading with government to hand over the new values of buildings.
“We have buildings which are of multi-million dollar value that were converted from small cottages and structures, and we are not benefitting from such new development, even though we should,” Green maintained.
He said the Council has written to President Bharrat Jagdeo and the Ministry of Finance, asking for budgetary support for the budget which will be presented early next week.
Green said the focus of the estimates is to maintain municipal buildings, restructure staff and see, where possible, to improve efficiency.
“That, itself, is a challenge, because efficiency is predicated on the institution having certain basic requirements which we lack at the moment.”