NewsWhore
02-08-2012, 11:10 AM
According to acento.com.do, Santiago city hall is having financial problems. Eric Mercedes, a councilor for the Democratic Alliance Party (APD) in Santiago, confirmed on Monday February 6 that many of the January expenses checks issued to councilors and contractors have been returned by the financial institutions due to lack of funds.
The councilors' salaries are paid electronically, but they are given an additional monthly RD$15,000 per-diem, which is paid by check.
Local moneychangers are complaining that they have been left with piles of checks in their hands as they have been returned with no explanation from the local authorities. One moneychanger showed reporters several packets of checks that had been returned a few days ago. He had 125 checks sent back and he also had to pay bank charges for each check that was bounced.
Mercedes said that if you try to cash the check they will not give you the money, but if you deposit it there is no problem.
The moneychangers are claiming that they have made every effort to find a solution with the municipal authorities but so far they have had no success. Nelson Carela, ex-councilor and municipal official said that there may have been problems with some returned checks but it might have to do with payments to contractors during the previous administration.
He showed a document of the payroll for December last year, showing that payments to contractors totaled more than RD$2.2 million every month.
The checks shown by the moneychangers in the name of the Santiago Town Hall are for amounts from RD$600 up to RD$4,000 dated 1 January, and corresponding to the month of January.
Some of the contractors under the previous administration have gone to the City Hall to demand that Mayor Gilberto Serulle honor his promise to resolve the situation and the moneychangers claim that the authority has not given an official and concrete version of the situation despite their request to the treasurer, Tomas Regalado.
www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/12259/56/Ayuntamiento-de-Santiago-no-tiene-fondos-rebotan-los-cheques.html (http://www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/12259/56/Ayuntamiento-de-Santiago-no-tiene-fondos-rebotan-los-cheques.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
The councilors' salaries are paid electronically, but they are given an additional monthly RD$15,000 per-diem, which is paid by check.
Local moneychangers are complaining that they have been left with piles of checks in their hands as they have been returned with no explanation from the local authorities. One moneychanger showed reporters several packets of checks that had been returned a few days ago. He had 125 checks sent back and he also had to pay bank charges for each check that was bounced.
Mercedes said that if you try to cash the check they will not give you the money, but if you deposit it there is no problem.
The moneychangers are claiming that they have made every effort to find a solution with the municipal authorities but so far they have had no success. Nelson Carela, ex-councilor and municipal official said that there may have been problems with some returned checks but it might have to do with payments to contractors during the previous administration.
He showed a document of the payroll for December last year, showing that payments to contractors totaled more than RD$2.2 million every month.
The checks shown by the moneychangers in the name of the Santiago Town Hall are for amounts from RD$600 up to RD$4,000 dated 1 January, and corresponding to the month of January.
Some of the contractors under the previous administration have gone to the City Hall to demand that Mayor Gilberto Serulle honor his promise to resolve the situation and the moneychangers claim that the authority has not given an official and concrete version of the situation despite their request to the treasurer, Tomas Regalado.
www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/12259/56/Ayuntamiento-de-Santiago-no-tiene-fondos-rebotan-los-cheques.html (http://www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/12259/56/Ayuntamiento-de-Santiago-no-tiene-fondos-rebotan-los-cheques.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)