THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has taken a decision to have one generic receipt issued to all those doing business with the municipality.
At the most recent statutory meeting of the City Council, the problem of different receipts being issued, at times without the necessary revenue stamps, was brought up.

Currently, different departments of the M&CC have been issuing different receipts for businesses conducted.

There have been complaints that customers are not certain on some occasions whether the receipt they have been issued is from the City Council or from private individuals.

The decision was also taken in view of the fact that some revenue collectors may have resigned or may be out of the system, but this may not be known to customers.

The Procurement and Rates Department is expected to look into the matter of procuring one standard receipt book for all departments.
Meanwhile, in the interest of greater transparency and accountability, the M&CC had decided that beginning March 1 last year, all casual and itinerant vendors would pay their rent and other fees at special booths and no longer through revenue collectors.

“No monies would be collected by anyone other than persons officially assigned in those booths to do so,” former Town Clerk Royston King had said about the new system. The new initiative was rolled out first at Bourda Market and was intended to be taken to the other municipal markets.

The revenue collectors, though, were not pleased with the new system and had started to complain.

“There have to be changes in all the departments of the City Council. As long as you are in the system, you have to work with the guidelines. We are your employers. If we change a procedure, and you don’t want to do it, then the choice is yours,” former mayor Patricia Chase-Green had said.
In keeping with the change, the town clerk had explained that they will now be verifying officers in place of revenue collectors. “They, along with staff from the City Treasurer’s Department and Internal Audit, will check and verify receipts. Those who are not in possession of official council receipts would not be permitted to sell or carry on business. The objective is to allow the vendors to make a livelihood in a clean and safe environment,” King had said.