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Michael Magoronga,Midlands Correspondent

KWEKWE City residents have rejected the proposed 40 percent tariffs increase in the 2023 budget urging council to adopt a standstill budget.

The residents also castigated the local authority for prioritising purchase of \ ‘luxury’ vehicles at the expense of service delivery.

The city purchased four Toyota Hilux GD-6 vehicles for its substantive directors at an estimated cost of US$200 000.

Two more Toyota Fortuners are set to be purchased for the mayor and town clerk.

This came out during a 2023 proposed budget consultation with Ward based Budget Committees on Friday.

The local authority is proposing to peg their tariffs in USD, which will see high density residents paying an average of US$43 per month up from an average of US$11 last year.

Kwekwe City proposed an 85 cents per kilometre charge for water for high density dwellers while fixed charge will be pegged at US$4.

Sewer reticulation service will be pegged at US$5, refuse US$6, while public lighting levy, education and fire levy will all be pegged at US$1 each.

In 2022, Kwekwe City used a $7,5 billion budget before later slapping the unsuspecting residents with a 500 percent tariff hike in February citing operational challenges owing to inflation.
During budget consultations, ward representatives proposed that councils  maintain a standstill budget given the economic outlook.

“This means that a resident will be paying an average of US$43 per month and to be honest most people can’t afford such money every month.

“This is why people end up not paying because it will be too much,” said Mr Tuesday Mlambo from Ward 8.

An elderly woman from Mbizo said while she was also in support of a standstill budget, she was also proposing that council exempts the elderly and widowed.

“Most of us are not working and personally I rely on my two roomed house for survival. There is nowhere I can get money from; I don’t have children,” she said.

“And if I fail to pay, the council says they are attaching my property then where do I go. Please bear with some of us.”

Others urged council to ensure that all residents get water as some of them were getting billed but portable water last came out of their taps years back.

Presenting the proposed budget, finance director Mrs Rejoice Dandira said the local authority was struggling to render services as ratepayers were struggling to clear their bills leading to ballooning  debt.

“This is compromising our service delivery. It becomes difficult for us to provide service delivery as expected.

For example, in September, there was a 27 percent revenue collection efficiency meaning the majority of the residents didn’t pay their bills,” said Mrs Dandira.

Kwekwe is owed $1,5 billion by ratepayers, while the local authority also owes its service providers about $500 million.

“The situation has left us with dry coffers and we are even failing to pay for our salaries and pensions,” she added.

“The rainy season is a tricky one for us as we require 30 tons of aluminum sulphate to clean the water due to turbidity.

“The situation becomes very difficult for us as it becomes even more expensive.”
The consultations are set to continue with the local authority set to meet with the church fraternity, business community before getting into the wards to meet with the average ratepayers.