PHILIPSBURG--The Committee for Financial Supervision CFT has given the Executive Council of St. Maarten seven days to comply with committee recommendations to present a budget that complies with CFT norms and regulations.
If the Executive Council does not comply, the CFT will inform the Kingdom Council of Ministers that St. Maarten does not have an approved budget. The CFT made its intention known in a letter to the council dated February 8.
Among the issues is a significant shortfall that will be reflected in the draft 2010 "balanced" budget once expenditures for Country St. Maarten and projected income from the Central Government are considered.
With the CFT already questioning government's calculations and what assumptions were used to determine the scope of the financial obligations, it also is not considering the Executive Council's projections for expenditures (NAf. 27.6 million) or income (NAf. 52.8 million) related to Country St. Maarten, as no concrete agreements are in place with the Central Government.
In an effort to assist the Executive Council, the CFT listed some income-increasing measures the Executive Council might consider within the next week. An increase in gasoline excises, an increase in turnover tax, taxation on tobacco and alcohol, and a casino tax were all mentioned as examples to be considered. The CFT also told the council to consider not adjusting salaries for cost-of-living.
The Island Government had to submit the 2010 budget by mid-August 2009. After realising that it could not submit a budget by that date, the Executive Council asked the CFT for an extension. The CFT granted a new date of September 15. That date also was not met by the Executive Council and the CFT gave another extension to November 18.
After the budget was presented on November 18, 2009, the CFT informed the Lt. Governor in December that the budget for 2010, as submitted by the Executive Council, lacked vital information and was unclear in certain instances. The CFT could not render a positive advice on the budget and gave the Executive Council until January 14 to rectify or clarify a number of issues it identified.
The Executive Council responded to that correspondence and, judging from the new mid-February deadline, has not sufficiently complied with the norms as laid out by the CFT.
Commissioner of Finance Xavier Blackman is in Curaçao and was unavailable for comment Thursday.
