Unless the proposed spending in Makana’s 2011/12 budget is drastically trimmed, ratepayers will have to dig deep in their pockets to foot the bill for an ambitious capital expenditure programme and a hungry bureaucracy.
Unless the proposed spending in Makana’s 2011/12 budget is drastically trimmed, ratepayers will have to dig deep in their pockets to foot the bill for an ambitious capital expenditure programme and a hungry bureaucracy.
The draft operating expenditure budget, adopted by council last Thursday, proposes a 48% hike in expenditure over last year. From last year’s R212.6 million, the five municipal directorates and the mayor’s and municipal manager’s offices have asked for a total of R102m.
The capital expenditure budget is up by 128%, R69.6m, from R91m to R158.9m. This includes the R50m loan from the Development Bank of South Africa that the municipality took out for the upgrade of water services.
The mayor's office has asked for R170 000 – a 467% increase over last year's budget – for equipment and partitioning – and the budget and treasury office R1 890 000, an extra 320%, for office equipment, integrated accounting system software, a sedan vehicle and hand-held meter-reading equipment and software.
The draft operating budget, like the draft capital expenditure budget, is top-heavy. The Mayor's office wants another R561 720, over the previous year’s R1.5 million. The budget and treasury office has asked for another 53%, amounting to a 63.4 million increase, mostly allocated to administration.
Corporate services have asked for a 54% increase, from R15.2 million to R23.3 million. Of this, R3.3 million is for the department’s administration, a 107% increase. Integrated development planning, which is a function of the municipal manager's office, is seeking R1.2 million more, an increase of 125%. The technical services budget has swelled by 55%.
The local economic development portfolio has asked for a 91% increase and now that the province has taken over the municipal clinics, community and social services has put in for a mere 26% boost to their budget.
A report tabling both the draft integrated development plan for 2011/12 and the draft 2011/12 to 2013/14 budget stated that unless the budget task team found a way to bring the proposed 48% increase down to a more acceptable level, municipal tariffs and charges would have to be hiked by more than 16%.
The draft operating budget is in deficit to the tune of R28.1 million and, according to the report, to close the income-expenditure gap, rates, and sewage and refuse-removal charges would have to be increased by 16% or more.
Electricity tariffs would have to be hiked by as much as 20%. As part of water-saving measures, water charges are anyway set to increase according to a formula whereby higher usage attracts an exponentially higher rate.
The R50 million loan is included in the capital expenditure to fund “specific water-related projects” and the amount of R4.5 million has been budgeted for an instalment towards repaying the loan in the 2011/12 financial year. Ngcelwane acknowledged that the proposed increase in operating expenditure was unusually high, but emphasised that this was a draft budget.
It would be the job of the Budget Task Team to adjust it. The task team will comprise the Budget, Treasury and IDP Portfolio Committee, the Municipal Manager, the IDP Manager and the Chief Financial Officer. They would have to ensure that a balanced budget, in line with the National Treasury’s Municipal Budget and Reporting Regulations, was tabled before Council on or before 30 April 2011.
It's your money… have your say!
Copies of the draft integrated development plan and draft budget for the 2011/12 financial year are available to the public for comment. Get a copy from the finance department, at the city hall, or view it on the website, www.makana.gov.za. In addition, the municipality has scheduled a number of Budget/IDP road shows in all 12 Makana Wards, where the public can comment on the documents. The first public meeting took place on Wednesday at Riebeeck East and Alicedale and the last will be at the Rhodes University Great Hall on Tuesday 19 April. The last day for the submission of comments is 21 April 2011.
