Municipalities Turning to New Sources of Funding

To the problems that face our cities to systematically make ends meet, the new leaders will they have enough ammunition to replenish the coffers of municipalities for the coming year? Some projects started this year could well help them. Overview in Port Louis, Beau Bassin-Rose Hill and Quatre-Bornes.

In the capital, it is mainly in areas that put paid parking. "Too many of these parks broke and do not have a trade license," says Kishan Servansingh, the Finance Officer of the Municipality of Port- Louis. This license is Rs 1,000 per parking space per year. This represents a tidy sum given that there would be 700 of this type in total. "The legalization process has already started," says the consultant.

The buildings are also an important source of money. According Kishan Servansingh some Building Permits were issued, but monitoring has never been carried out by the inspectors. "This is an important step to apply the estate tax. Other buildings have extensions and must be re-applied tax. The lack of personnel slowed down the process, but we can focus on the tax in the future " , he adds.

Side Quatre-Bornes, it also relies on the contribution of rents. The new food court in the city where the first rental will be collected in January, will be important. "We have 30 guests at the moment and they will inject more into the coffers of the city," said the outgoing mayor, Rooma Meetoo . Seen Rs 6 million invested in the renovation of the building, it is a significant fact.

On the other hand, the 18 apartments belonging to the town hall in Newton House should pay big dividends next year. Former tenants, who left the scene this year, paid Rs 400 per month for 20 years. The new pay at least Rs 8,000, a figure given by government evaluators. "There are some minor renovations to make and paint layers to add, but by February we should be ready," adds Rooma Meetoo.

At Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, but the options are more limited. "We're pretty limited in terms of resources," recognizes the outgoing mayor André Toussaint. "The only weapon we have is the rate of the property tax. We are dependent on grant-in-aid from the central government, " he says.