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The San Pedro Town Council in keeping with its commitment to accountability and transparency will be presenting its end of term report on Thursday, January 26th at the San Pedro Lions Den at 7:00 p.m. The public is also informed that the public meeting will be aired live via Reef Radio/Radio TV.
Its now an hour late.....whats wrong?

Finally started over 1 hour late

SAN PEDRO TOWN COUNCIL PRESENTS END OF TERM REPORT


Jan 27, 2012

The San Pedro Town Council headed by Mayor Elsa Paz presented its end of
term report last night.

Maria Novelo reporting...
"The San Pedro Town Council presented the final report of its 3-year term
last night at the Lion's Den. With the incumbent Councils term coming to a
close, Mayor Elsa Paz said the Council remained committed to the concept of
accountability and transparency. Despite the dismal participation of the
public, Mayor Paz highlighted in her report that total revenue collected
for the period April 2009 to March 2010 was $4.1 million, an increase of
three hundred thousand dollars more than their budgeted amount. Mayor Paz
said that the collections from property taxes were significant for that
period as 82% of those taxes were collected from their budgeted amount.
Other taxes including trade, liquor, garbage disposal, bridge fees and
transport fees were among revenues that exceeded the estimated collections.
Mayor Paz highlighted that miscellaneous collections which include
contributions from the Business community were used to fund the Councils
festivities and infrastructural projects. She reported that this term they
received two hundred twenty six thousand dollars from Grand Belizean
Estates for road rehabilitation; three thousand two hundred dollars from
the business sector for sports; twenty nine thousand dollars from
individuals and the business community for school scholarships and thirty
five thousand dollars from the Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and
Culture and Area Representative Manuel Heredia. In addition, a total of 5
million dollars were collected in revenue for April 2010 to March 2011.
Mayor Paz stated that the Council had obtained a loan of $1.4 million
dollars to complete the payments for Angel Coral Street. Paz said property
taxes for this period were impacted by the economy as the Council collected
only 64% of the budgeted amount. Total revenue collected on Property Taxes
represented 25%, Licenses 25%, Traffic/Transport Fees 17%, Bridge Fees 10%
and Housing & Planning 4%. This Fiscal Year from the period April 2011 to
December 2011 reveals that the total revenue collected is $4.2 million
dollars. Mayor Paz said that with the world wide economic crisis it was a
very challenging term for the Council but that with commitment they
provided the necessary services to the San Pedro municipality. Mayor Paz
said the Council streamlined the staff from 95 in 2009 to 83 which reduced
their expenses on Personal emoluments over the three year term. Mayor Paz
concluded her presentation by saying that in this fiscal year the biggest
project undertaken was the rehabilitation project of Laguna Drive which
cost $1.5 million dollars to complete."



Story at http://www.lovefm.com/ndisplay.php?nid=15479

Mayor Elsa Paz and the SPTC present end of term report

Mayor of San Pedro Town, Her Worship Elsa Paz presented her end of term report on the night of Thursday January 26th at the Lions' Den. The presentation took place an hour later than scheduled and lasted a total of 20 minutes. The report, which outlined the last three years of her term, has left the community with even more questions than answers regarding the finances of the San Pedro Town Council.

Mayor Paz delivered her speech to a Lions' Den full of empty chairs and 15 people which included two of her councilors, three senior staff members, audio and video technicians and reporters. A group of concerned residents opted to protest the Mayor's end of term report by staging a walk-out just as the Mayor began her report.

When questioned by the media about the content of the report, Mayor Paz went on record to say that she would be available, along with her administrator on Friday January 27th to respond to any questions. Despite numerous phone calls to the SPTC on said date, Mayor Paz and her Administrator Patricia Tillett, were unavailable.

For a copy of the report presented, CLICK HERE

After eight years of running the Town Council under the UDP administration Mayor Elsa Paz held an official meeting to present an end of term financial report of the San Pedro Town Council; reports are due every year. Last night San Pedro got a 15-minute report of random figures that lead to only one conclusion. San Pedro is still in the dark when it comes to getting a clear picture of the financial operations of the San Pedro Town Council.

Here is Mayor Elsa Paz's opening statement: "As we are coming to the end of our final term 2009-2012, the San Pedro Town Council in keeping with its manifesto promise of being open and accountable to the residents of our island, we are here to report to you the electorate on what the Council has been able to complete during this last term in office."

Click here for the rest of the story in the Ambergris Today

Ambergris Today was privileged to receive a more detailed copy of the Town Council's financial report read by the Mayor on Thursday, January 26, 2011. Attached to her script are several more pages which shed some more light to the financial operations of the council for the period 2009 to 2012.

For the year 2009-2010 the total revenue collected was $4,176,417.77. The total expenditures for the same period was $4,129,127.98 leaving about $40,000.00 + in surplus revenue. The biggest revenue earner was Property Taxes with a $1.14 million. Trade licenses netted the council close to $646,000.00 and there is an interesting miscellaneous revenue which is close to $805,000.00. (very high to be a miscellaneous category). The bridge at Boca del Rio gives the council a whopping $330,000.00 which indicates good business for the Council as well as an indication that the fees could now be adjusted to make it a service rather than a business. Or is it a good idea to keep it as a business? Ask the vehicle owners and taxi operators; consult with the voters of Ambergris Caye.

Click here for the rest of the story and more excellent chart data in the Ambergris Today