City’s R49bn budget accepted
Substantial changes made to water tariffs
THE City’s R49 billion budget, this time with lower tariff increases, is one step closer to being approved after the mayoral committee agreed to present it to the council. Mayor Patricia de Lille, who is back in the mayoral chair in the council chambers, yesterday chaired the meeting.
As the officials took their seats, she and JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety, security and social services, gave each other the cold shoulder and walked right past each other.
The full mayoral committee together with executive directors and officials agreed on the budget and to present it to the council for full approval.
Deputy mayor Ian Neilson said: “Following extensive public comments, special effort was made on the budget.
“The final proposals will also be taken into account. “We accept this budget as it is.” Since the tabling of the City’s draft budget for 2018/19 in March, further examination of the budget proposals by City officials and councillors has led to a reassessment of the budget proposals for the Water and Sanitation Department.
The overall increase in the department’s budget requirement has been reduced from 26.96% to 19.9%.
This was achieved primarily by adjusting the new water programme, including the savings which will result in the current financial year.
A record 40 000 comments were received on the proposals in the City of Cape Town’s tabled (draft) budget, as well as various portfolio committee meetings, workshops and discussions.
The reduced revenue requirement has resulted in substantial changes to the water and sanitation tariff increases to be proposed for the council’s approval in the final budget on May 30.
The City announced earlier this month that it would do away with plans for punitive water tariff increases of 55% for households which consume less than 6kl a month.
The new tariff increase for this consumption bracket will be 10.10%.
Those who use more than 6kl but less than 10.10kl have been spared a planned 6.26% increase.
There will be no price increase for the moment for this level of water usage.
Residents were granted further reprieves by way of big cuts in planned tariff increases for sanitation.
For the group that required less than 4.kl a month, a tariff increase of 78.71% has been slashed to 9.87%, while no tariff increase will come into play for usage of between 4.2kl and 7.35kl a month.
A proposed increase in property rates has been lowered from 7.2% to 6.5%.
The amended new water programme is now proposed to comprise R14.1bn over the next five years instead of the originally proposed R19bn.