Government Rental Spending Skyrockets: $18.6M and Counting

Tonight, we’re diving into the dollars and cents behind government rentals and what we found might surprise you. News Five asked the Ministry of Public Service for a full breakdown of what taxpayers are shelling out for rental properties. Instead of detailed figures, we got pointed to the proposed budget for 2025-2026. And let’s just say, the numbers speak volumes. The Briceño administration is estimating a staggering eighteen-point-six million in recurrent spending on rents and leases. That covers everything from office spaces to vehicles and other buildings. That’s sixteen million more than what was previously understood. From the judiciary to the Prime Minister’s Office, and across key ministries like Health, Finance, and Foreign Affairs, the rental tab is climbing fast. In some cases, budgets have doubled in just one year. And while some of that spending is local, a big chunk is going toward housing diplomats and renting office space overseas. So, where exactly is all this money going, and why the sudden spike? Here’s Paul Lopez with that story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

In response to News Five’s request for a full and complete breakdown of the government’s expenditure on rental properties, the Ministry of Public Service did not provide the detailed figures. Instead, they referred News Five to the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025-2026. Well, the figures are revealing to say the least. According to the Briceno administration’s budget proposal, recurrent expenditure on rents and leases is estimated at eighteen point six million dollars. Now, that includes office space rentals, vehicle rentals and building rentals for other purposes. But that is sixteen million dollars more than what was initially understood to be the cost to taxpayers.

 

A further analysis of the budget by the ministry reveals that the judiciary is shelling out an estimated forty-eight thousand, nine hundred dollars annually on rent and leases. To be clear, all the total figures provided in this report also include vehicle rentals. However, that’s a jump from seventeen thousand dollars in the last estimated budget. The Supreme Court is paying an estimated thirty thousand dollars to rent buildings, while the Magistrates Court is paying four thousand, two hundred dollars for two buildings outlined in the list provided by the Ministry of Public Service, one owned by Jose Antonio Romero in Corozal and another owned by Emilio Zabaneh in Independence Village.

 

On the other hand, the Ministry of Public Service and Governance and Disaster Risk Management pays out an estimated eleven million, six hundred dollars of taxpayer’s money for rents and leases overall. Here is what comes out of that figure for building and office rentals, eight million to rent and lease office space, three million for dwelling or living quarters and an additional thirty-nine thousand to rent other buildings. All these figures are contained within the estimated budget.

 

In the Office of the Prime Minister, one hundred thousand dollars was designated for rents and leases, with twenty-one thousand going to building rentals for strategic management and administration. The list provided by the Ministry of Public Service points to two rental spaces, one for the Office of the Prime Minister in Belmopan to Decia Liu and another for the Prime Minister’s Office in Belize City to The Vista Plaza. Within the same ministry, e-Governance and Digitization is operating with an estimated twelve thousand dollars for building rentals.

 

The Ministry of Finance’s estimated budget for rents and leases doubled over the last fiscal year, from three hundred and eleven thousand to six hundred and twenty-nine thousand dollars.  Two hundred and seventy thousand dollars is going to rent and lease office space for International Financial Services, primarily IMMARBE situated inside the Marina Towers and the Belize High Seas Fisheries Unit inside the Aura Building on the Phillip Goldson Highway. Notably, none of these buildings are highlighted in the list of rentals provided by the Ministry of Public Service.

 

Over the last year, the rent and lease budget almost doubled for the Ministry of Health and Wellness, from one hundred and ninety-nine thousand dollars to three hundred thousand dollars. For the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the estimated rents and leases budget stands at four point three million dollars, but the primary expenditure here is overseas representation. It’s costing the taxpayers, one point nine million dollars to rent office space overseas and two point one million dollars annually to house diplomats. And we are only beginning to scratch the surface of what the rent and lease agreements are costing taxpayers.

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez

 

We will continue our breakdown in a subsequent newscast