Mayor Says CitCo’s Finances Performing Well

Bernard Wagner

The Belize City Council has had a long history of financial challenges. City Hall relies heavily on tax collection and monies derived from traffic tickets, as well as subventions from the government to pay its staff and to keep public spaces clean. This time of year is normally off season for tax collection. Nonetheless, CitCo’s finances are performing well, according to the mayor. On Thursday, we got a chance to speak with the head of local government about it and he explained that they save during the peak season to cover for the slow season.

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

“This time of the year, normally wi di dip, but we have been smart stewards of the city purse, you know. In our high period we’ve been saving our money to be able to meet our staff salaries, to be able to meet garbage collection. So, July, August, September are normally slow season, right? But we have been able to re-emerge out of those type of scenarios and that type of system where we build up our savings, ensure wi overdraft deh da the bottom weh ih fi deh, and then we start to use those during those slow periods.”