Ratepayers have to bite the bullet
BRACE yourselves. That, unfortunately, is the message which Nelson Mandela Bay residents simply have to accept in the foreseeable future as the city is forced to put the squeeze on already hard-pressed homeowners.
Despite the Consumer Price Index inflation slowing in July to 4.6% from 5.1% the previous month, Bay households will take little comfort from that news as they struggle with day to day cost-ofliving bills which continue to climb – be it to a greater or lesser extent.
As we report today, the city’s ratepayers are having to dig a lot deeper than their counterparts in other major metros when it comes to municipal rates.
And the plain fact of the matter is that it’s not going to get better any time soon – not at least until there is significant growth in the local economy.
It all boils down to the Bay not having sufficient numbers of ratepayers by a long stretch and a comparably smaller valuations roll to buoy its coffers – and a city with not enough money simply cannot run it.
At least budget and treasury political head Retief Odendaal is refreshingly forthright and transparent when he admits that ratepayers are having to suffer the burden of higher rates, but says the administration has its back against the wall in its efforts to turn the city’s finances around.
This has forced the municipality, which is faced with a significant backlog in fixing and replacing infrastructure, to budget for a 9.5% rate hike which will go some way to ensuring proper maintenance – something which, through no fault of the current City Hall leadership, has been neglected for years.
This is of course not good news for homeowners, who are just going to have to bite the bullet for now.
What is welcome though, is that benefits and extra rebates for less enabled groups are on the cards.
Odendaal has asked ratepayers to trust his administration with their money – and if it does not deliver, vote it out.
At least he fully appreciates that is the job constituents assigned to the coalition government last year – and failure to do it is not an option.