The City provides electricity

RELATED LINKS: Ratepayers to give input on City budget JOBURG ratepayers have been invited to make their input into the process of formulating the City budget for the coming year. Read more Lower tariff increases bring relief to ratepayers TARIFF increases are lower than initially proposed. Ratepayers will pay an average 5,6 percent more for municipal services in July. Read more Regional People's Centres THE city is divided into 11 local regions, each with a People's Centre to provide local assistance to residents with City-related problems. Read more

Comment sought on planned tariff increases The City has published its proposed tariff increases, and has urged the public to comment before any final decisions are taken. April has been set aside for public input. April 5, 2006 By Ndaba Dlamini THE proposed tariff increases for City services range from 5,1 percent for all minor tariffs to 8,2 percent for electricity, and ratepayers have been urged to raise objections before they are passed. The increases were proposed by the City of Johannesburg for the 2006-07 financial year. The City is bound by the Municipal Systems Act to review its tariffs annually and to involve the public in deciding on amendments to existing tariffs. Members of the public will be able to voice their objections at a series of meetings to be convened in the build-up to the mayor's budget later this year. The proposed increases are as follows: electricity 8,2 percent; water and sanitation 8,1 percent; refuse collection 5,1 percent; and all minor tariffs (average) 5,1 percent. All increases in electricity are subject to approval from the National Electricity Regulator. "The average increase across all the City's plus-or-minus 26 tariffs hasn't been worked out yet," says Veli Hlophe, the assistant director in the City's budgetary services unit. "However, we have put out notices in the media for residents to visit their nearest People's Centre to peruse the City's tariff, budget and Integrated Development Plan reports so that they can contribute meaningfully in the process." The public participation process will take the whole of April and the City council will meet in May to deliberate on the public's input before taking any decisions to reduce or go with the proposed increases, Hlophe says. Read the draft budget and proposed tariff increases here. Ratepayers can drop off their written comments on the proposed tariff increases at any of the People's Centres or can address them to: The City Manager, P O Box 1049, Johannesburg 2000. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za