Councillor Peyrefitte denies breaking CitCo regulations…
The Belize City Council is known to be broke and unable to pay bills. The mayor has been criminally charged and while she was out of the country, new allegations came out of more improprieties against her. Now there’s another bombshell on a councillor. In an audit of the council from 2006 to 2008, it was revealed that there were write offs, closing of accounts that owed thousands of dollars, and even major discounts such as twenty-five thousand dollars to the Princess Hotel and Casino. In all, about four hundred thousand dollars that should have gone into the council’s coffers were uncollected. The Councillor who was then Responsible for Revenues, Leila Peyrefitte admitted to the audit team that the law does not provide for the Council to give any discount whatsoever. If the law does not provide for discounts, then why did she do it? In an interview with News Five this evening, Peyrefitte said that everyone knew about the plan, the councillors, the trade license board and even the Mayor. But the question still remains, were the write off to wealthy businesses such as the Princess and the Santiago Group of Companies legal?
Leila Peyrefitte, Belize City Councillor
“We offered incentives and trade-offs to difference businesses to enable the council to function better. Trade-offs such as filing cabinets, laptops, desks, raincoats, computers, motorcycles. That was what was given. It was not a discount, it was a trade off. Not only did the trade license know, the council knew. The councillors and mayor knew of every single discount that was given.”
Jose Sanchez
“I guess the reason why the Princess is import to look at is because it is a business that generates a lot of cash. It’s nothing for them to need a twenty-five thousand dollar discount. It’s not like they’re going broke.”
Leila Peyrefitte
“No, I agree it’s not but like I said it’s not a discount, it was a trade-off. We needed and they supplied us and we gave them a trade-off.”
Jose Sanchez
“ Arrears totaling eighty-four, thousand were closed off. Were any efforts made to collect those?”
Leila Peyrefitte
“Well, let me give you a brief history of how this is done. For example, in December of 2006, we do an assessment of all the businesses that are in Belize. Business open and close every single day in Belize. So if a business opens January of 2007 and closes in April or June of 2007 and that business did not pay their trade license, that is not written off; how it goes about is that that arrears is given to the court. The courts then takes necessary procedure and tries to collect back. But if a business person comes to you and says, councillor Peyrefitte, I started my business in January 2007 and it closed in April of 2007, lord man give me a break why I have to pay?”
Jose Sanchez
“But still I mean Castillo and Princess, they are not going broke. The audit said that there was a letter that the Castillo group sent requesting consideration of the assessment was too high but the audit team could not find it.”
Leila Peyrefitte
“Every business has a right to send in a letter to the council requesting a reassessment of their trade license. Every single business has a right to do that and then the valuation department goes out and do a reassessment of their business and give an explanation of how it is that we come about getting the value of your business.”
Jose Sanchez
“But the audit could not even find that letter form the Castillo group.”
Leila Peyrefitte
“Jose, I am not the only person in charge of giving discounts. Yes, the portfolio comes under me, but the mayor can give discount. Not because the portfolio comes under Peyrefitte, but the mayor can give discount.”
Jose Sanchez
“You do realize that this sounds a little bit like what the mayor is saying with under-deposits and that wasn’t in the law either.”
Leila Peyrefitte
“No, no, no, no, that’s a whole different story of under-deposits. Those monies were never under-deposited. It was never accounted for. Every single trade-off or incentive that was given by the council comes with a letter and that is in the finance, all that transaction and whatever it takes procedures is in the finance department and that finance department is run by Mayor Moya.”
Jose Sanchez
“As a Yes or no, does the law that governs the council allow you to give discounts to write off amounts?”
Leila Peyrefitte
“There is nothing in the law that stops the council from doing that.”
Jose Sanchez
“So you see no problem with that four hundred thousand dollars more or less that should have been collected that wasn’t.”
Leila Peyrefitte
“Like I said, it’s not what should have been collected; the council receives motorcycles, laptops, filing cabinet, whatever it needed to function. I just want to say that it is a common practice for the council to give incentives and trade-offs and you should know about that because you will see that the Belmopan city council advertise in the newspapers to property owners to come in early and get a discount.”
