Marigot: --- Two financial experts visited St. Martin this past week to analyze the financial situation of the Collectivity of St. Martin confirmed senator Louis Constant Fleming. Fleming said the experts departed St. Martin on Friday he said the President of the Collectivity was advised not to take on any additional financial engagements besides the day-to-day expenditures of the COM.
Senator Fleming said that the financial jeopardy the COM is facing is not one the COM is responsible for. He said the COM is lacking some 12 million Euros due to the loss of the Octroi de Mer funds.
The senator said one of the persons that have St. Martin in this situation is the deputy of Guadeloupe Victorin Laurel. Fleming said when this issue arises and the elected officials brought it up with the State, Laurel he said had decided to pay the Octro de Mer funds for 2008 and refused to pay it for 2009.
The senator said he felt that Laurel should have left this matter up to the State and then it would have become a communal income, which was the case of the past. Fleming said when the island got its new status the evaluation commission had to take this into consideration. He said he was informed of this since 2008 when he was told that the Octroi de Mer is a Regional subvention. Fleming said he along with the President of the Collectivity Frans Gumbs have a letter which was signed by Yves Jego and Michelle Alliot Marie stating that the State would advance St. Martin the 12 million Euros that was lost due to the Octroi de Mer funds. He said when this matter was sent to Bercy they said they did not understand how to make an advancement. Due to this, he said both the president and senator made a request for an inspector of finance and administrator to visit the island to analyze the situation, which is what took place.
Fleming stressed that the Collectivity should not be blamed for the financial woes, instead it is the fault of the French Government. He said the government signed a contract with the COM in March 2008 where the COM is paying the State 2 million Euros to collect its taxes. Fleming said in the past the State was not executing its duties by collecting taxes but they were guaranteeing the monies to each commune. Fleming said even though this was happening the French Government was not loosing any monies even though they guaranteeing the monies. He said St. Martin was producing five or six times more than what the island was receiving. He said they were getting these monies through TVA, droit de mutation, and tax immobiler.