HGP Nightly News – City Hall has laid out a sobering financial picture for 2026, with the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown unveiling a budget that projects a deficit of roughly $1.28 billion, exposing the depth of the capital’s fiscal troubles and the pressure now bearing down on basic municipal services.
The budget estimates place expected revenue at $4.41 billion, while projected expenditure is set significantly higher at $5.69 billion. That leaves the city facing another year in which spending is expected to outpace income, even before taking into account the wider weight of unpaid bills and outstanding collections. Financial projections show accounts receivable at $7.69 billion and accounts payable at $6.76 billion, numbers that point to a municipality still trapped between what it is owed and what it owes.
Against that backdrop, City Hall says it will have to tighten its grip on revenue collection, with a stronger focus on delinquent ratepayers, improved billing systems and broader efforts to bring more money into the city’s coffers. At the same time, the council is expected to examine where it can cut costs, improve internal efficiency and better control spending without allowing core public services to collapse.
Presenting the budget, Chairman of the Finance Committee Lelon Saul said several departments are expected to remain under serious financial strain. Some of the heaviest pressure is expected to fall on the City Engineer’s Department, Solid Waste Management, Public Health and Human Resources, where expenditure continues to outpace revenue by wide margins. The City Constabulary and Town Clerk’s Office are also projected to remain major cost centres, underscoring how expensive it is for the municipality to keep even its essential operations going.
Not all areas of City Hall are operating in the red. The Treasurer’s Department continues to be the city’s strongest income earner, generating more than $3 billion and standing out as one of the few areas with a major surplus. The Markets Department also remains one of the better-performing units financially, though its contribution is far smaller when set against the broader hole in the city’s finances.
Saul warned that Georgetown remains under intense financial and administrative pressure, and indicated that the 2026 budget may be presented in one of the most constrained periods the city has faced in recent years. With Guyana approaching its 60th Independence Anniversary, he also used the moment to call for governance that is less divisive and more rooted in fairness, merit and democratic respect.
