THE Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) met 52 per cent of its annual property tax collection target during the first quarter of this fiscal year.

“We continue our public education drive by attending community meetings, placing ads in the electronic and print media, doing house-to-house visits, and sending town criers around to remind property owners of their obligations,” Mayor of Kingston Senator Angela Brown Burke said as she addressed the monthly sitting of the Council at its Church Street offices, in downtown Kingston

on Tuesday.

She further urged citizens to encourage their family and friends to pay their property taxes.

The mayor also informed that the Council had, in the first quarter, achieved a 16 per cent increase in its own source revenue, over the corresponding period for 2013/2014.

Meanwhile, she said the Council continues to seek to control expenditure, noting that an ongoing energy audit at the KSAC would be completed by the end of August, after which recommendations will be made.

“The aim is to install energy efficient equipment, to bring down the electricity costs,” Mayor Brown Burke said.

The mayor informed that the Council has already made cost containment gains, with its expenditure now at four per cent less than its revenues, at the end of the first quarter of 2014/15.

“This demonstrates fiscal prudence, as the Council is living within its means. We are doing this, while at the same time trying to improve service delivery,” she noted.

Mayor Brown Burke said that from this increased revenue, the Council will be cleaning additional corridors in the municipality, and teams will therefore be assigned to this task.

Additionally, the Council is establishing an emergency fund to address disasters in a more

timely manner.

As it relates to ongoing improvements in the turnaround time for development approvals, the mayor informed that currently, 80

per cent of applications are being processed within 90 days.

“The idea is to consistently and gradually move it from that 80 per cent, because we really want to get as close as we can to that 100 per cent,” she said.

She urged members of the public who experience difficulty in having their plans approved within 90 days, to contact the town clerk or herself.

“If you’re suspicious about any interaction with our officers, call us. The KSAC is determined to complete the approval process within 90 days, and to make this system a transparent one,” she said.