Twenty-six mayors, seven former mayors and four members of the Local Councils Association have not yet refunded honoraria payments totalling more than €95,000 they owe the Government.
But according to association president Michael Cohen, the money is still owed only because the Government had, until last month, never asked for it back.
Labour, Nationalist and even independent mayors from both Malta and Gozo are on the list, as is Dr Cohen and two other LCA board members.
Answering a parliamentary question by PL MP Leo Brincat last Monday, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said local councils and the association were “taking the necessary steps” to recoup the money. Once refunded, the €95,000 will be kept by the respective local councils.
Mayors were automatically given higher honoraria payments when MPs’ allowances were increased in 2008.
The increases for MPs caused a national outcry when they were revealed, with public opinion eventually forcing the Government into awkward backtracking in February 2011.
When those allowances were refunded, mayors were expected to do the same. But according to Dr Cohen, the entire problem is the Government’s own doing.
“It’s not that mayors are refusing to pay the money back but rather that the Government never asked mayors for the money,” he said.
According to Dr Cohen, some time ago government representatives had started phoning mayors to see what they intended to do with the money.
“We objected to that and asked the Government to make its requests in writing,” he said. Mayors then received a government memo telling them to sit tight and wait for a parliamentary debate on the issue to be concluded first.
The Department for Local Government has now sent council secretaries a memo instructing them to ask their respective mayors for the money back.
Mayors have been given until the end of 2013 to repay, although some may choose to clear their debt before then.
“There might be one or two mayors who disagree, but I know the vast majority have no problem paying it back. Mayors have acted correctly from start to finish. Had the Government asked for the money back earlier, it would have received it earlier,” Dr Cohen said.