Joburg takes tariffs dialogue to property stakeholders
The City of Johannesburg Finance Department on Thursday, 18 June 2020, hosted a virtual property stakeholder engagement to encourage and record feedback on the Draft 2020/21 Medium Term Budget and Tariffs.
The engagement which attracted significant interest from the targeted stakeholders offered a platform where the City's Member of Mayoral Committee for Finance, Cllr. Jolidee Matongo, opened discussions on the proposed property taxes, water and electricity increases, as well as the related rebates.
The meeting saw the City's officials on Property Rates Policy, Johannesburg Water Tariffs and City Power Tariffs outline the proposed increases and field questions for clarity on what informed the proposals.
MMC Matongo said: “When we began the process of drafting the proposals at hand, the City's leadership had met with the respective departments, and we collectively agreed on some principles and ideals."
“These were ideals garnered from Johannesburg residents, the City's staff and our various stakeholders. Today's engagement was a continuation of our efforts to uphold and achieve these ideals and the principles we have committed ourselves to," he said.
MMC Matongo noted that municipal tariffs were reviewed annually and then increased by a determined percentage in-line with budget guidelines.
“The challenge in today's world – particularly in an economic hub like Johannesburg – it is all about ensuring that increases are equitable and affordable, hence the necessity to engage stakeholders across sectors as the City has undertaken," he said.
The proposals, MMC Matongo added that “they need to be considered while balancing these increments against our mandate to ensure continuous service provision to all the residents of the City of Johannesburg".
MMC Matongo, who has also been engaging residential stakeholders on community radio stations across Johannesburg, is set to further engage with bulk water and large electricity user stakeholders on Monday, 22 June 2020, to encourage and record feedback on the Draft 2020/21 Medium Term Budget and Tariffs related to their interests.
Johannesburg residents can access the proposed Medium Term Budget and Tariffs documents on the following City of Johannesburg website link: https://www.joburg.org.za/documents_/Pages/Key%20Documents/SDBIP%20IDP%20and%20Budget/SDBIP-IDO-And-Budget.aspx .
Public comments need to be submitted by the 23rd of June 2020 using any of the platforms below.
Emails:
For Budget & Tariffs Input - budgetinputs@joburg.org.za ,
For IDP Inputs - idpinput@joburg.org.za ,
For Rates Policy and By-Laws Inputs - ratescomments@joburg.org.za
Whatsapp Number: 083 632 1077
Weblink: http://share.hsforms.com/1puiRfx1FSO606r27262qHA469tl
ENDS
For media queries contact:
Gosebo Mathope
MMC for Finance Media Liaison
Cell: 063 336 6231
or
Nthatisi Modingoane
Deputy Director Media Relations
Cell: 082 467 9228
