Kouga Municipality’s pro-poor draft budget and tariffs for the 2022/2022 financial year, starting July 1, were approved unanimously by council on Thursday, March 31.
This despite challenges such as maintaining an acceptable employee-related cost ratio, curtailing electricity and water losses at acceptable levels and increasing cost associated with bulk electricity purchases.
Kouga Executive Mayor, Horatio Hendricks, said that every effort had been made to ensure that the budget was pro-poor and fully funded.
“The key service delivery priorities, as reflected in the IDP, informed the development of the budget, including the need to maintain and improve the municipality’s financial sustainability,” said Hendricks.
“Cost containment measures are, furthermore, being implemented to curb costs and to improve operational efficiency.”
The total draft budget amounts to R1,17 billion, of which R1,14 billion is for the operating budget and R33,017 million is for the capital budget of the municipality.
“The operating budget will be funded from various sources, the major contributors being electricity (35.59%), property rates (23.19%), operating grants and subsidies (16.65%), water (8.33%), refuse (5.90%), and sanitation (5.89%).
The total operating expenditure for the 2022/2023 financial year amounts to R1,14 billion. Compared to the 2021/2022 adjustment budget, operational expenditure increased by 3.04% in the 2022/2023 budget.
“The major operating expenditure items for 2022/2023 are employee-related costs (34.15%), bulk electricity purchases (26.16%), other expenditure (10.53%), depreciation (8.82%), and debt impairment (4.36%),” said Hendricks.
In order to fund the operating budget, the following increases in property rates and service charges have been proposed:
- Property rates: 5.25%
- Water: 6%
- Sanitation: 6%
- Refuse: 6%
- Electricity: 8% (average increase in income)
- Environmental management fee: 8%.
Hendricks said that the municipality had kept tariff increases as low as is possible.
“In some instances, especially when it comes to electricity, this proved to be a challenge, with Eskom increasing its bulk tariff to municipalities, he said.
Major capital projects include the upgrading of sports facilities at a cost of close to R5 million, as well as the upgrading of gravel roads in Humansdorp at a cost of more than R26 million.
Also on the cards is the electrification of Ocean View at a cost of more than R6 million.
“Residents will be able to have their inputs on the draft budget and IDP from April 7, when the municipality will engage with communities at public meetings in all 15 wards,” said Hendricks.
“Once all inputs and comments have been received, a final budget will be tabled to Council before the end of May 2022.”
