As the new financial year in Joburg kicks in on 1 July, ratepayers will have to start forking out more for services.
The tariff increases were revealed in MMC for Finance Funzela Ngobeni’s maiden budget speech on 24 May.
Ratepayers can expect a 7.37 per cent increase in their electrical charges, a water, sewerage and sanitation service increase of 14.2 per cent, and a waste removal services increase of 6.8 per cent. However, a proposed tariff on sanitation services for private dwellings no bigger than 300 square metres has been reduced to R196 from R250.
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As for property rates, the new valuation of ratepayers’ homes will kick in but the rates tariffs will remain unchanged. Click here to find out how property rates tariffs work.
The MMC also said that the residential property rebate which was first set at R200 000 being rates free, is proposed to be raised to R350 000. The pensioner property rebate is also to be set at R2.5 million, up from R2 million.
The expanded social packages will give qualifying residents a 100 per cent rebate to residents who are not pensioners and whose property values does not exceed R500 000.
Ngobeni said that 76 per cent of the R59 billion budget is dependent on revenue raised by the City.
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“Realising this, all efforts have been made to balance the City’s tariff increases so as to safeguard our financial sustainability while being aware of the challenges experienced to household income,” he said.
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