Cape Town - A litany of new municipal charges, most notably a 26% water increase, have been proposed by the City to rake in just more than R3 billion for augmentation schemes while council wants R9.4 billion from property rates and R12 billion from electricity sales.
Added to the water costs is a fixed Level 6b water restriction tariff increase of 55% in the 2018/19 financial year and a fixed charge cover of R56 per month for homeowners with water meters that are 15mm in size.
The punitive charges for sanitation have also shot up and residents will pay 78% more if the budget is approved.
Homeowners with a property value of R1 million or more will pay a flat rate of R150 per month on top of their monthly bills.
Mayor Patricia de Lille has tabled a R49.1 billion budget for the 2018/19 year of which R39.9 billion is for operational expenditure and R9.2 billion for capital expenditure.
Xanthea Limberg, mayoral committee member for water, informal settlements and energy, said the City needs sustainable streams of income as the drought has made issues difficult.
“In light of the current severe drought various initiatives are planned over the next few years to ensure sustainability and resilience in the provision of water to the City. This includes investments in desalinations, underground extraction from aquifers and water reclamation,” Limberg said.
It is proposed that municipal services will increase:
Property rates by 7.20%;
Electricity by 8.14 %
Water by 26.96%
Sanitation 26.96
Refuse 5.70%.
@JasonFelix