City Council salaries deducted, but where did payments go?
The Belize City Council has been mired in numerous controversies of a financial nature. The latest to surface involves employee salary deductions intended for banks, business houses and even the Family Court. The Council employs close to three hundred persons who are the breadwinners for their families, a majority who have authorized the Council to make salary deductions for outstanding debts. But tonight it is confirmed that the council never forwarded the payments. The Financial Controller, Patrick Tillett, says he is not responsible. So who is? The Deputy Mayor, Dion Leslie, would only say that the cash strapped City Council was initially behind by two months, but it has closed the gap and now owes approximately fifty thousand dollars on behalf of city employees.
Dion Leslie, Deputy Mayor, Belize City
“The deductions are basically employees of the City Council who ask for deductions to go directly to the banks. They are paying off bank loans; they are paying off courts; they are paying off many of the pawn shops that give out loans; family court; just other businesses or entities they have to pay. So what we do here, we take it out, we subtract it automatically from their pay and then we pay off whichever bank you have to pay off or credit union or what for the employees. With the financial strap the council has been in for the past couple months. We kind of ran back a month and a half, which is basically three paydays. Now within the past couple weeks we have caught up and we are now only behind one payday for deductions and which I believe before the month’s end or within the next couple weeks that you’ll see we will be right up with the deductions.”
Jose Sanchez
“But at the same time those bank payments, interest is being accrued. Did you speak the banks to let them know what is happening? Were there any penalties that these employees suffered as a result?”
Dion Leslie
“I believe there were some. We had spoken to Scotiabank and Belize Bank, I believe and asked them to grant a little leniency to the employees. It’s not their fault, it’s on us. We’re not saying that we’re not going to pay, just help them out if you could. I know some companies didn’t extend that leniency to us and I don’t know about all of them but we tried our best to cover for our mistakes.”
Jose Sanchez
“But in the cases that maybe someone would have to make an extra payment or a few dollars more. Would the council be willing to pay a few dollars more on that individual’s behalf?”
Dion Leslie
“I would have to talk to the councilor in charge of finance. It would only be fair in some aspect but we can only do what we can afford.”
Earlier this year it was also revealed that CITCO was not paying social security contributions of its employees and was in default of over three hundred sixty-four thousand dollars.
