HARARE City Council has proposed marginal increase for council services, rates and taxes in the 2020 budget to enable the municipality to remain afloat and provide services.
While some services have risen, others remained unchanged as council pays a sympathetic ear to the plight of residents under the prevailing harsh economic environment.
Presenting the 2020 budget estimates at Town House, Finance and Development Committee chairperson Councillor Luckson Mukunguma said the increase in some services was as a result of the escalating cost of inputs.
“The water tariff increase has been necessitated by a drastic increase in the cost of inputs; namely chemicals, cost of repairs, maintenance, capital charges on borrowed funds for capital works and electricity costs.
“The increase in input costs has led to this upsurge in terms of water tariffs,” Mukunguma said.
He also said the proposed water tariff was cost recovery, with no profit margin and the tariff structure was crafted in a manner that would allow for efficient water usage and conservation.
Refuse collection has increased marginally from ZWL24 to ZWL28 per month for high density areas and ZWL36 from ZWL2 per month for low density areas.
With these increases, a high-density resident is expected to pay around ZWL225 while those in low density areas are expected to pay around ZWL687 per month.
Hospital and clinic fees, except for the Caesarean Section, would remain unchanged.
The Caesarean Section rose from ZWL525 to ZWL837 in the 2019 budget.
“It is expected that government grants for drugs and related programmes will cover the shortfall as well as contribution from property tax,” Mukunguma said.