Electricity 13.07%
Property rates 3%
Water 10.45%
Sanitation 9.40%
Refuse 14.54%
It seems that there is just no end to the municipal account headaches.
Residents are outraged with their latest accounts.
The municipal chief financial officer, Ms Jabulile Hlatshwayo popped in at WITBANK NEWS for a cup of coffee to explain the latest figures.
“Residents must remember that the new tariffs were implemented on July 1. In essence everyone will be paying more on their service accounts,” she said.
She broke it down and said property rates increased by 3%, electricity by 13.07%, water by 10.45%, sanitation by 9.40% and refuse by 14.54%.
There is also a catch.
If you use more water than the prescribed threshold you will pay an additional amount.
If you use between 600 kWh and 1 000 kWh, you will be billed an extra R264.37. If you use more than 1 000 kWh, you will have you pay an extra R494.87.
“This was in place to teach people to use electricity sparingly,” Hlatshwayo said.
Prepaid consumers use to pay R1.74 per unit, but after as from July 1 they have been paying R1.97 per unit of electricity.
Hlatshwayo said there has been a bit of confusion because some farms in the municipal district were classified as residential and their property taxes billed as such.
The valuators are busy fixing the classification of the properties and it will soon be fixed.
The lady in charge of the municipal finances said they are aware that some ‘blank’ accounts were sent out with no description.
“We outsource our printing of the accounts and the hick-up can be traced back. We are busy rectifying the problem and new accounts will soon be loaded on the municipal site.”
Hlatshwayo is also aware that people are furious about their water accounts.
