Brace yourself — steep hikes are coming after July 1. You will soon be paying more every month in Nelson Mandela Bay as the municipality continues to struggle with containing its ballooning wage bill.
The hikes proposed include a property rate increase of 5.5%, while residents will fork out 6.5% more for water, sanitation, and refuse collection.
The proposed tariff increase for electricity is 8.6%.
But is it actually fair to have such steep hikes at a time when unemployment is at a record high and the economy is still in the doldrums?
The answer is simple and it is an emphatic no.
On top of that, residents must live in a city with the municipality’s tawdry service delivery record.
The municipality is also unable to fix failing water and electricity infrastructure.
It often leaves residents with power and water outages almost every day in the city.
So why then must residents pay for inept services when the municipality can barely keep the lights on?
The answer is simple again. We should not be forced to pay more for shoddy services.
Other reasons for the steep increases in the proposed budget are the rehabilitation of vandalised municipal buildings and previous decisions that led to the insourcing of security guards.
The insourcing of security guards was a council decision made back in 2016, while the draft budget reveals councillors could be rewarded with an expected salary increase of 5% from July 1.
Bay ratepayers association chair Kobus Gerber said the proposed tariff increases were ridiculous and unreasonable.
He should be applauded for approaching a law firm to see how ratepayers can be protected from the municipality.
He also suggested the municipality consider putting tariff increases on hold until the economy recovers.
While his suggestion is unlikely to ever happen by law, the city’s draft budget and Integrated Development Plan (IDP) has to be put out for public comment.
This will be your chance to have your say against the steep hikes and ask officials why residents must pay for the ballooning wage bill when the metro can barely replace light bulbs, fix leaks and fill potholes.
The municipality and council must account for their poor decisions instead of pushing the costs onto the ratepayers.
HeraldLIVE