In September and October, the Insular Council of Bonaire in several public meetings discusses the budget concept of the Bonaire Public Entity for the year 2024 and the outlook for the next three years. Last week during the meeting of the Community and Care committee, certain parts of the budget dealt with education, culture, sports, social work and social security, among others.
The members of the committee mainly put a lot of emphasis on (lack of) management. They were of the opinion that the Executive Board does not sufficiently indicate which policy forms the basis of the amounts mentioned. They also did not send the relevant documents to the Insular Council. This week, the debate continued during a meeting of the standing committee on Planning and Development, where the Executive College briefed the Insular Council on the topics in the budget related to climate change, land management, drinking facilities, traffic and infrastructure, among others. Once each committee has considered the budget, it is up to the Executive College to eventually make adjustments, so that it can subsequently be discussed in a meeting of the Island Council for an opinion.
Establishment of budget
A budget is an annual statement by a public entity of its income and expenses for the coming year. Legally the Insular Council as the one responsible for the budget has to stipulate the budget, so that the Executive College can submit it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations for approval before November 15.
The stipulation takes place at a decision-making Island Council meeting, where Island Council members during a round of voting can express their approval regarding the final budget or not. Only after the establishment of the budget can the budgets be used in accordance with this budget.
