KWEKWE City council has cancelled the proposed 2023 budget after it was rejected by councillors who felt the increases the budget was proposing were to high for residents.
During a special council meeting last week, the councillors agreed to withdraw the local authority’s proposed US$37 million budget, which sought to increase tariffs by more than 400 percent.
During the budget consultations, ratepayers called for a standstill budget, which meant ratepayers were supposed to continue paying US$11 for rates every month but the local authority went on to present a budget proposing to increase tariffs and service charges by more than 400 percent. This would have resulted in ratepayers paying an average of US$43 per month.
Under the rejected budget, council was proposing to peg their tariffs in USD and had increased rates to US$43 per month for high density residents compared to US$11 that they are paying now.
Following an outcry from the ratepayers and some councillors, a special council meeting was convened, which saw nine out of 12 councillors who were in attendance, supporting the withdrawal of the budget.
Some councillors accused council management of trying to fleece residents by submitting a budget, which contained figures that were not agreed upon during consultations.
Acting Kwekwe Mayor, Councillor Pikurai Msipa, confirmed the development saying the budget should be affordable to residents.
“It’s true we had a special council meeting where we ordered that the budget be withdrawn so that we can have a relook at it,” he said.
Clr Msipa said councillors agreed with residents that the proposed tariff and service charges increases were too high hence the decision to withdraw the budget.
Clr Msipa said the review of the budget is meant to reduce the proposed increases to reasonable levels.
“We are saying we will look at how best we can balance between increasing revenue and affordability of residents. We can focus more on how we can generate income as council instead of putting all the burden on residents,” he said.
Council was recently criticised by residents for buying luxury vehicles for their senior managers. Residents felt that the council was misplacing priorities as they were focusing more on personal interest at the expense of service delivery.
Last February council increased tariffs by 500 percent citing operational challenges owing to inflation. – The Chronicle
