“Thank you for rescuing San Pedro,” was a comment by one of the media personnel present at the financial audit report, hosted by the San Pedro Town Council. In the Council’s report, Mayor Wally Nuñez, indicated how his administration took the town’s finances and management from unaccountable finances, unverified balances, poor accounting, debt, and losses (from the past administration) to a healthy and financially stable Council that is capable of properly managing and running the fruitful town of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize.
The San Pedro Town Council presented its financial statements for the year ending March 31, 2022, on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at a press conference directed to Belize’s media houses. Its key message was of showing transparency and accountability by achieving stability through changing the way the Council manages the public’s finance. The presentation delivered summaries of the completed audits for 2021 and 2022, with a targeted date of October 2024 for the 2023/2024 audits.
The take away from the financial reports was that the PUP administration was handed a Town Council in shambles by outgoing Mayor Daniel Guerrero and his United Democratic Party administration.
Key Points Outlined
- An outstanding $1.5Mil government loan that is in default, which the Council is in negotiations for debt forgiveness.
- Another ongoing default private party loan of $300K since August 2012 – Council has been making timely payments and already paid off $59,056.
- Two bank drafts totaling $186,841that have been fully paid off in a period of four months with no need of an overdraft facility since June 2021
- Outstanding Income Tax where employees deductions were made for years 2019 and 2020 but never submitted to the tax department. Secured agreement for monthly payments of $10,000 for the $222,859.51 total has been made.
- Significant Vendor Balances including $301,185 for Caribbean Depot, $95,194.59 for Medina’s Construction and $377,775.67 for Caribena Fuels. Payment agreements have been made and balances are going down. Fuel purchases for Town Council vehicles are separate and fully paid off.
Proper Internal Controls
- The San Pedro Town Council states that if has restored the confidence in their clients and business investors within their term in office and have done so with software to track receivables, fixed asset resister, established finance and revenue department, and acquired new financial partnerships.
- Their efficiency and accountability have come via a new Neo Municipalities Software that has allowed for the implementation of proper internal controls, hard copy and soft copy of receipts are documented and cash closeout reports provide a detailed breakdown of revenue collections.
- The previous administration had no proper software and there was no proper procedures to keep records of payments, including receivables for property taxes, trade licenses, liquor licenses and garbage collection fees. The new software has allowed for all of this to be possible.
- A fixed asset resister, which was non-existent, is now in place to keep proper documentation of asset values and depreciation.
- Quickbooks Online ensures proper documentation of customer receipts and vendor bills, including proper reconciliation of bank and vendor accounts.
Town Council Moving Forward
By removing the San Pedro Town Council from the status of a low confidence and high risk enterprise, Mayor Wally Nuñez says that he is confident that his team can move forward with the healthy management of our island. He says that, already, their actions have attracted innovative investments from financial institutions that have now resorted confidence on the Council. These investments include paving and lighting of the San Mateo residential area, with a possible project of a new bridge and more road works to improve, among others. Copies of the complete audit reports can be found in the following links below.
