The City Treasurer’s Department

In the quest to effectively manage the City’s financial affairs towards deriving maximum benefit for its burgesses, the Corporation’s employees and the City in general, the City Treasurer has been working in accordance with a strategic plan, the main elements of which are:

• Increasing House rate revenue through the stepped-up operations of the City Assessor’s Department by means of:

1. a new valuation system.
2. Inclusion of new properties within new city limits and assessments thereof.
3. Increasing current rates under the present system.

• Charging the public for services provided by the Corporation, for example:

1. Providing housing to persons interested in paying for that facility;
2. Charging rentals for the use of car parks in the city;
3. Involvement in making viable investments to ensure proper rates of returns, e.g. investing in stocks and shares;
4. Providing medical services to the public at a price;
5. Charging for City Police services such as escort services for dignitaries and protective services.

• Increasing fees charged for services currently offered in areas such as the Printery, the Central market and the Abattoir.
• Ensuring that the staff is trained at an optimal level to facilitate prompt, efficient and effective delivery of services to the public.
• Approaching the Union for the re-consideration of over-time costs and procedures.

The City Treasurer’s Department is entrusted with the function of financial control over the operations of the Corporation.

In this regard, the Department is responsible for the collection of all rates and taxes and the institution and implementation of systems and controls to ensure proper recording and accountability in the Corporation’s financial affairs.

The Corporation’s revenues comprise an annual subvention from Central Government to cover wages and salaries of the Corporation’s employees, and for the purchase of minor equipment, combined with the generating of its own revenue to finance the provision of recurrent goods and services.

While Government’s subvention is usually projected to make up about 70 - 80 per cent of the Corporation’s revenues, the Treasurer’s Department is sometimes called upon to fill the gaps whenever there are shortfalls in the Government subvention.

In addition, government regulations do not allow the Treasurer’s Department to directly utilize additional self-generated revenue since the regulations stipulate that all revenues must first go into the national Consolidated Fund.

There are 52 employees in the City Treasurer’s Department.

Last year some employees stepped up their skills by undergoing training courses paid for by the Port of Spain Corporation.

The City Treasurer’s Department also upgraded its computer system and improved the updating of its records.