Former Mayor Joe Coye Says Mounting CitCo Debt Unsustainable

According to accountant and politician, Joe Coye, although the 2012 audit is inconclusive and the 2013 audit is incomplete, the figures presented in the 2014 audit are cause for alarm. Coye pointed to one figure which he said stood out – in 2012 the Council reported a total debt of a little over fourteen million dollars, and in 2014, it was more than three times that…an increase which the P.U.P. insists is unsustainable.

Jose Coye

Jose Coye, Accountant

“If you look at where the Council was moving from the 2011-2012, even though the auditor is saying he was not satisfied, there was total debts in the Council of about fourteen million dollars. Then if you look at the 2013-2014 which they did show the 2013…the 2013 is in the 2014 to compare and they refer to it as restated, but when you look at the debts as restated in the 2013 here…in this same one which is not audited – well it’s been audited but it’s not completed, we have not heard from the auditor…the debts went from fourteen million to thirty-five million dollars…that’s a big increase. We are talking about twenty-one million dollars increase in that short time. And then it moved to the year in which we see an audit, to forty million dollars…now that’s an extremely high amount to move in only three years…to have a municipal government move from fourteen million to forty-million in liabilities – now that’s really a big jump for a municipal body. And when we look at these financials, the issue that comes to mind is that when you can move your debt from fourteen million to forty million you ask yourself…is this sustainable? What choices does the Council have in moving its debt so high when its revenue base is showing clearly that it cannot sustain it?”