LETTER: Metro, where is all the money?
People are being invoiced every month on their rates bill for services that are not supplied.
‘Bobs’, of Benoni, writes:
Two simple questions:
1. What are the rates and taxes collected actually supposed to be spent on? Is there a list? Does anyone know?
2. Does the municipality fall under the Consumers Act? People are being invoiced every month on their rates bill for services that are not supplied.
My rateable tax was increased by 79% last year (what a pleasure it would have been if Eskom was driving the increases).
After following the appeal procedure it was decreased by a nominal 10%.
So what is the money being spent on?
The roads are full of potholes. The grass verges are not being cut. The grass and weeds are growing in the gutters damaging road edges.
The local parks are ruined and totally unsafe for children. The refuse is only collected once a fortnight or three weeks if you are lucky.
When the power is out, the water stops. There is no emergency generator to run the pumps. We keep getting told its on its way – when?
The municipal offices are a disgrace, the town hall is beyond repair, the Benoni CBD is a total eyesore and the dams are a disgrace and full of weeds.
The municipality will also be collecting more money when they add their cut over and above the eye-watering
Eskom increase.
So, where is all the money?
It certainly is not being spent on the upkeep of Benoni or on any of the services being invoiced on our rates account. Benoni, pay back the money!
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