City Treasurer Ron McCalmon has projected an 11 per cent increase in City Hall’s revenue for this year.
According to a press statement, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has foreseen a significant jump in its revenue this year and has credited this achievement to the new revenue collection mechanisms being put in place and the existing money sources the municipality is now better able to tap into.
During the orientation session of the newly-appointed Georgetown Councillors last week, McCalmon gave an overview of his department while acquainting Councillors with the Municipality’s various sources of revenue.
“We expect our revenue to increase by 11 per cent this year,” he told the Councillors before outlining various areas where the municipality intended to strengthen its revenue collection. For instance, McCalmon said there were 150 properties currently registered with the municipality that have changed their status from residential property to commercial, but were paying the same meagre rates.
“Some of these people [owners] are paying $2000 annually, $1000 and even $800 for these properties,” McCalmon said, with affirmation from some seasoned Councillors who nodded and clapped, acknowledging the truth of the information.
The City Treasurer also 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 other measures would also increase the Council’s fees.
In relation to containers, the department intends to convene a special team to identify those persons offloading containers within the city during the night to avoid paying the due sums to the Council.
After pointing to several other existing revenue earners, the Treasurer said his department was responsible for all of the Council’s revenue and expenditure, including those of other departments. McCalmon urged the Councillors to work towards strengthening the M&CC’s financial abilities with strong policies.
Despite the projected increase, the Treasurer is of the view that more can be done to increase the Council’s revenue especially with the number of projects and services that are intended to synchronise to return the Garden City to a green city.
