INLSA
eThekwini residents, already looking at a water tariff increase of 12.5 percent, have now been blindsided by the loss of the free nine kilolitres of water they used to enjoy.
Anyone whose property is valued at more than R250 000 will no longer qualify for the free first nine kilolitres of water that has applied to all residents. Up to now a fixed charge has kicked in after the free water, and thereafter consumers would pay a rate per kilolitre for water.
Municipal treasurer Krish Kumar yesterday announced the change while tabling the city’s record R31.3-billion draft budget for the 2012/13 financial year, an increase from the R28.6bn budget of 2011/12.
Residents will now pay the same rate for water irrespective of the number of kilolitres used, unless their home happens to be worth less than R250 000.
Kumar said the building of the Spring Grove Dam, currently under way on the Mooi River, meant 42 cents additional cost per kilolitre for water, which pushed the tariff up to between 4 and 5 percent.
“If we did not have Spring Grove Dam our current 12.5 percent would have been 7.5 percent. So we have been well within striking distance of inflation. Similarly, for commercial the current tariff is 15.5 percent. It would have been 10.5 percent. Spring Grove has put major strain on our tariff increase,” he said.
Kumar said the city had eliminated the fixed charge for water, and this would ensure that everybody paid the same rate for water irrespective of the number of kilolitres of water used.
“We will see how that particular tariff goes, we have had stability with water collection rates so it will be interesting to see how consumers behave without the fixed monthly charge for water,” he said.
Kumar said that with the development backlogs in water, the city would pay R2bn over the next three years, and had spent R3bn over the past three years.
Kumar said bulk purchase costs for electricity and water consumed about 50 percent of the city’s R26bn operating budget, salaries and allowances were R603.9m, amounting to 25 percent of the budget, with interest paid on loans amounting to R83.7 million.
In addition there would be an 11 percent hike in electricity charges. Sanitation would go up by 6.5 percent and refuse removal by 7 percent. Rates for residential and business properties would increase by 6.5 percent.
Overall, the valuation base has grown from R393.7bn to R421.6bn, an increase of 7 percent. The rates randage of 0.914 cents in the rand has been adjusted to ensure overall increased income of 6.5 percent.
Lilian Develing, of the Combined Ratepayers’ Association of Durban, said the city’s decision to do away with the free nine kilolitres of water was being discriminatory because the law stipulated that the first six kilolitres of water should be free.
“Electricity and water costs are frightening. There’s been no change in pensioners’ rebates, but everything has gone up,” she said.
Home and business owners who are unhappy over their new valuations have until tomorrow to object if their properties have been over- or under-valued, or incorrectly categorised.
Public hearings on the budget are from April 5 to 7, and the budget will be approved on May 30.
Provisions made by eThekwini to assist the poor include:
l Free 50kWh electricity for residents using less than 150kWh a month in Eskom reticulated areas.
l Properties valued up to R185 000 will pay R20 for rates per month. For all other properties valued above R185 000 no rates will be charged for the first R120 000.
l Pensioners, child-headed households, disability grantees and medically boarded people are exempt from paying rates on the first R400 000 of property value.
l No rates are payable on the first R30 000 of property value for vacant land.
In a similar development, Pietermaritzburg residents have had a shock with Msunduzi municipality’s draft budget increasing water tarrifs by 22 percent. This is up from the previous year’s 8 percent. As with Durban, the municipality said it was because 11 percent would now go towards the building of the Spring Grove Dam.
Msunduzi’s increase for bulk electricity users and homeowners will go up by 16 percent, however, much less than last year’s increase of 21.6 percent and 23.3 percent respectively.
Sewerage and property rates are to go up by 7 percent, while refuse will be up by 5 percent. Other tariffs will increase by 5.9 percent.
The R2.9bn budget is currently open for public comment
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