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SINGAPORE – Tampines City Council emerged as the worst actor on the latest official report card from city councils, showing less than stellar results in corporate governance and property maintenance, and received a rating of Amber.
The municipalities of Chua Chu Kang and Aljunied Hougang also received amber ratings in one category each, with the former performing poorly in managing arrears in service and conservation charges (S&CC), and the latter performing poor in property maintenance.
These results were released in the City Council’s Management Report for the 2019 financial year, which ended on March 31, 2020.
The annual report assesses the performance of city councils in five areas: farm cleaning, farm maintenance, elevator performance, management of arrears in service and maintenance expenses, and corporate governance.
They receive scores in green, amber or red based on objective and measurable criteria presented by municipalities and their auditors.
The Tampines City Council was the only one with an amber score in corporate governance.
It was downgraded for transferring inappropriate amounts to its subsidence and uplift replacement funds for the quarter ended September 30, 2019.
As a consequence of the error, which was due to a calculation error, the City Council failed to comply with the Financial Regulations of the City Councils.
In the explanations presented to the Ministry of National Development (MND), the Tampines City Council said that it had discovered the error and made up the deficit with the next quarterly transfer.
Since then, it has also implemented a calculation template and made sure the officials in charge of the task know how to use it, the city council added.
Regarding the management of the farm, the City Council did not do well since the HDB officials who carried out the inspections of the farm for the report observed that there was obstruction of common areas, as well as installation of unauthorized artifacts and storage of fuel elements in common areas, among others. things.
The Aljunied-Hougang City Council, which also received an amber rating for the maintenance of the estate, had similar problems.
Meanwhile, the Chua Chu Kang City Council received an amber rating for S&CC arrears management, as 40 to 50 percent of the city’s monthly S&CC owed for collection was past due.
To earn a green rating, city councils must keep this overdue amount below 40 percent, and also have fewer than four out of 100 homes in arrears for three months or more.
The report, which is published by the MND, was delayed this time as city councils had more time to submit their audited financial statements and corporate governance checklists due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The MND said in a statement on Monday (March 15) that in view of the circuit breaker period imposed last year to curb the spread of the coronavirus, city councils were able to present these documents two months later, on November 30 last year, in instead of September 30 last year.
“As a result, the presentation of the TC financial statements to Parliament and the finalization and publication of the results of the City Council Management Report for fiscal year 2019 have been delayed,” added the MND.
The MND also announced that it will not publish a city council management report for fiscal year 2020 as it has suspended the evaluation of city councils for the period from April last year to March this year.
“This is due to the disruption that city councils faced during the breaker period, as well as changes in city councils after GE2020 in July last year. The suspension also allows for clear accountability of results when the resumption resumes. TCMR evaluation from fiscal year 2021 (from April 2021), “he added.
Responding to inquiries from The Straits Times, MND said that while city councils will not be evaluated, they will still be required to submit the self-declared corporate governance checklist, as well as their audited financial statements, for the 2020 financial year.
The checklists will be posted on the MND website for public review.
In addition, MND will continue to internally monitor the performance of city councils in the other areas, and will continue with farm inspections in randomly selected blocks.
The findings will be sent to the municipalities for follow-up.
Starting next year, MND will also publish two annual reports, one of which will only cover corporate governance.
This is because the report on operational indicators (farm cleanliness, farm maintenance, elevator performance, and arrears management from S&CC) could be released earlier, in May or June, when the information is collected and available. .
Meanwhile, the corporate governance report will be published in November or December, as the audited financial statements of the municipalities, which are necessary for the evaluation, are only submitted to the MND at the end of September.
When asked, MND said that the division of the report does not affect how city councils will be evaluated and allows for more focused and timely reporting on different aspects of city council work.
The reports will give an account of the new urban areas and will cover 17 municipalities.
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