KSAMC prepared to name and shame companies owing millions in fees
Published:Wednesday | October 9, 2024 | 12:11 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
The Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) says it is prepared to make public the names of advertising companies that owe the municipality millions for billboard advertising across the Corporate Area.
Speaking at Tuesday’s monthly meeting of the KSAMC, Mayor Andrew Swaby said he had instructed the Revenue Department to increase its efforts to collect monies owed to the municipality.
He noted that a meeting was held earlier with these agencies to discuss their debts and propose payment plans to settle the arrears.
While some entities responded favourably and have made full or partial payments, others have remained delinquent, the mayor noted.
“Subsequently, I have asked the CEO and the inside counsel to write to these companies, outlining to them the impending course of action if outstanding fees are not paid,” Swaby said.
“We have pretty much exhausted our effort in trying to collect these monies. As a form of moral persuasion, we are prepared to make the names of these companies public. More importantly, we want their clients to know that they have not discharged their obligation to the KSAMC and that their ads are at risk of being taken down,” he added.
Finance Committee Chairman Dennis Gordon told The Gleaner that five companies are currently delinquent, and owe the municipality millions of dollars. These debts were accrued between five and 12 years, he said.
Gordon could not provide the exact sum owed, saying it is still being tabulated.
“We have given them all the opportunities to be compliant, but they are defiant,” Gordon stated.
He explained that fees are paid annually and vary by the number of billboards each company has and the size of each billboard.
Gordon, however, acknowledged that there was a breakdown in the processes at the KSAMC that caused this situation.
“The truth to be told, we are also complicit in that our enforcement was not where it ought to be, so we are not blameless in the collection effort. But as you know, the citizenry is demanding that we provide the services, and to provide the services, we have to increase our inflows, and so we are looking at all areas where revenues are outstanding,” he said.
And declaring that the KSAMC is not “anti-business”, Swaby stressed that part of its mandate is to generate income to undertake various expenses.
“We cannot do so if we are unable to collect these monies,” he said. “For too long, the KSAMC has been taken for granted. These companies would have collected the fees from their clients to provide advertisement placements for them; however, they refuse to pay KSAMC their fees. This practice is unacceptable and will not be allowed to continue,” he said.
The municipal corporation on Tuesday also approved a budget of more than $5.3 billion for the revenue and expenditure budget for the year 2023-2024, and $5.2 billion for 2024-2025.
In the meantime, Gordon said that the Auditor General’s Department’s look into the finances of the municipality under the previous council term is ongoing.
He had stated his intention to request an audit after alleging that the former administration spent more than $80 million above the approved budget for salaries.