Wednesday, August 05, 2015. Aaron Humes Reporting: It is budget season for the nine municipalities of Belize, who feed in their requests to the Ministry of Local Government in Belmopan to be forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for inclusion in the annual National Budget due in March.
The Ministry is teaming up with the Belize Mayors’ Association to offer a series of trainings to municipal staff countrywide, and the first workshop was held in Belize City today concerning revenue enhancement and valuation.
Director of Local Government in the Ministry, Eugene Palacio, says several municipalities are not maximizing their collections of revenue from their standard sources – trade and liquor license, property taxes, etc. Having the resources leads to a battle to stay fiscally disciplined and plan properly through the budget.
Also participating were the local staff of the CARILED project which has been assisting various municipalities. Even with the largest revenue base of all the municipalities, Belize City still has its revenue stream problems.
But according to Mayor Darrell Bradley, the coffers are healthy, if not swimming, and they are teaching their expertise to their fellows countrywide.
The workshops are expected to be held every two months. City Council staff are also on their own time training their town counterparts.