The Birkirkara local council sponsored a €2,000 theology course for a council accounts employee last year while councillors underpaid taxes and their mayor failed to return a €5,120 overpayment made to him, according to an audit report.

When I read Franco Debono is still getting paid to be a parliamentary assistant, I don’t see why I should pay back (the money)

When contacted, Mayor Michael Fenech Adami defended the unanimous decision to bankroll a theology course, saying councils were encouraged to invest in furthering their employees’ education.

The Grant Thornton auditors in question, however, insist such investments should be limited to work-related education, something the council contests.

The audit report also suggested the mayor repay €5,120 in money exceeding the mayoral honoraria ceiling which he received last year, and cited a government memo to this effect.

But a combative Mr Fenech Adami said he had no intention of paying back money.

“I was asked to repay it to set an example, but there’s no obligation to do so. And when I read that Franco Debono is still getting paid to be a parliamentary assistant, I don’t see why I should pay it back,” he said.

The Sunday Times had reported that the pariah Nationalist MP was still receiving the annual €7,000 remuneration owed to him as a parliamentary assistant, despite his admission that he hadn’t been at his desk in months.

But the auditors scrutinising the Birkirkara councillors’ tax returns highlighted the fact that some councillors were not paying the recommended 20 per cent tax on their council allowances.

The audit report noted that “the council should deduct tax at a standard rate of 20 per cent”, citing two government memos to this effect. Auditors found that some Birkirkara councillors were not doing so.

Mr Fenech Adami said he was among these. “I paid 15 per cent on mine, and that’s much more than enough,” he told The Times. “Being a mayor is a full-time job, and this is my only income.”

The mayor in a council like Birkirkara can expect to receive around €17,500 per year for the job which, officially, is part time. Questions sent to the Office of the Prime Minister requesting clarification on government guidance concerning council allowances and taxable limits were not answered at the time of writing.

The audit report reveals significant council budgeting difficulties, with the council having exceeded its budgeted expenditure targets by an eye-watering €1.28 million in 2011.

“This confirms that either the annual budget has not been accurately prepared or that the council is not monitoring its expenditure against the budget,” the auditors note.

Birkirkara’s mayor said the figure was misleading, with more than €400,000 of that amount repayable over an eight-year period as part of a public-private partnership.

“The truth is that council budgets don’t even cover bare essentials. We fork out €17,000 a month in waste collection fees and a further €13,000 in street cleaning services.

“These things need to be done in one way or another. I don’t see accruing some debt as a problem, provided the locality has something to show for it,” he added.

Councils faced a constant battle to collect payments owed to them, Mr Fenech Adami argued, saying that “if everyone kept their word, the council wouldn’t have any debt”.

The audit report also criticised the council for paying councillors their allowances in full despite some having patchy attendance records and failing to justify their absences.

According to 2011 council meeting minutes uploaded online, just one councillor – John Mary (Jimmy) Calleja – attended every council meeting held between March and December last year.

Two councillors, Mark Abdilla and Rose Frendo, were absent for four out of nine meetings.

Council meetings held in January and February of 2011 could not be taken into account as minutes uploaded online do not include an attendance register.

Mr Fenech Adami said the auditors’ comments concerning attendance were incorrect, as absences were accounted for.

“The real problem is councillors turning up for meetings but then not pulling their weight,” he said. “Only the vice-mayor and another couple of councillors are actually interested in doing any work.”

In Birkirkara local council’s case, that work included sourcing €700,000 in EU funding and over €900,000 in Urban Improvement Funds, Mr Fenech Adami pointed out.