Windhoek
Even though the Windhoek City Council did table a budget with a reduced deficit compared to last year, a glance at the overall budget is still frightening, more so when Windhoek residents are again asked to dig deeper – than last year – into their pockets to keep the operations of the capital city afloat.
As such the lowest paid Windhoek residents would have to fork out an additional N$74.10 in municipal tariffs each month, while a middle income earner would have to pay an additional N$163.70 and the highest earner some N$377.78 to the municipality each month.
In its defence the council says it did “consider various alternatives to keep the tariff increases as low as possible”, and that is the reason why the tariff increases proposed are lower than what they should be, and the reason the city would this year accumulate a budget deficit of N$288 million.
“The anticipated deficit is mainly a result of tariff increases lower than the cost recovery increases for the past five financial years,” said the council.
The budget for 2015/16 is at N$4.04 billion – a 9 per cent increase from N$3.709 billion of last year – and the N$288 million deficit has been reduced from N$364 million.
The capital budget is at N$383 million, a decrease from N$504 million in the previous year. And in a bid to keep Windhoek as Africa’s cleanest city, and the tourists’ most loved ‘little Europe’ within Africa’s picturesque mountainous enclave, the council has set aside N$3.66 billion for operational expenditure, of which N$1.13 billion is for salaries, wages and allowance, jumping from N$917 million. The rest – N$2.53 billion – will go towards keeping the electricity going, water running, sewerage running unclogged underground, and streets clean and paved.
The chairperson of the management committee, councillor Moses Shiikwa, said: “Increases by the bulk suppliers left [the City of Windhoek] with no option but to propose tariff adjustments that are aimed at reducing the budget deficit.”
The sewerage tariff increases by 17.5 per cent, water basic tariff increases with 10 per cent, water consumption tariff increases with 10 per cent, the property tax tariff goes up nine per cent, household refuse removal tariff increases by 10 per cent, while the ‘availability charge’ for services shot up five per cent.
The informal settlement refuse removal tariff increases by five per cent, solid water management tariff increases with 10 per cent while the electricity tariff will increase by an effective 9.8 per cent, subject to the approval of the Electricity Control Board (ECB).
Shiikwa is however continuing with the appeal for a central government subsidy for water and electricity, saying utilities NamWater and NamPower receive guaranteed government funding while local authorities receive no fixed subsidies.
“It is a painful decision for us local authorities to pass on these tariff increases on water and electricity to our residents, most of whom cannot afford them,” he says.
Part of the N$383 million for capital spending is money that came from government’s Targeted Intervention Programme for Employment and Economic Growth (TIPEEG) for the servicing of land in Otjomuise and other extensions. The City of Windhoek received N$278 million, in three different tranches. The priority area for spending is on serviced land delivery and on erecting municipal services to informal areas.
“I must appeal for your understanding on the fact that in as much as we would have liked to include all the requested capital development projects, we could not do so, simply because of the fact that resources are not enough to provide for all identified needs,” said Shiikwa.