The draft budget 2017/18 Medium Term Revenue & Expenditure Forecasts (MTRF) and the five year Integrated Development Plan (IDP) cycle, which starts on 1 July 2017, was tabled on 29 March by Mayor Rudolph Smith and is now available for comment.

Mr. Smith said “the process of tabling this IDP is to ultimately ensure that the projects identified speak to the needs of all who live here – the balancing of this budget proved to be a challenging and difficult process.

“This municipality faces increasing pressure from both the rising cost of basic services and the growing number of households in Overstrand, and we are also ultimately bound by budget constraints and regulations dictating spending to us by national government.

 “Rest assured though, the Overstrand Municipality remains committed to execute our mandate of rendering basic services in a cost effective manner for the next 5 years until our term comes to an end,” he concluded.

The Draft Budget reflects a proposed capital budget of R115,1 million for 2017/18. Funding sources for the capital budget will be generated from grant funding (R67,3 million), external loans to the amount of R30 million and R17,88 million will come from surplus funds.

According to the draft budget, it is anticipated that the municipality’s operating revenue for the new financial year will amount to R977 712. The total operating expenditure amounts to R1 022 816.

Tariff hikes

On average, proposed tariff increases for the municipality, as tabled to Council, has been limited at 6%.

• The exception to this is property rates that have been increased by 7.4 %. “This has been done so that we can continue to produce a surplus for future capital investment as well as the fact that for three consecutive financial years, we have now limited the administration to a zero percent increase on its expenditure items that it have control over and we will have to start allowing them to increase those expenses in the following financial years,” explained Finance Portfolio Committee Chairman and Deputy Mayor, Dudley Coetzee.

• The charge for the first 6kl of water increased by 11,5% or 0.46 cents per 1 000 litres;

• The basic charge for electricity is increased by 5% and the usage for residential tariffs for the first 350 kWh electricity concerned, will reduce slightly. For the tariffs between 351 kW – 600 kW, the tariff on average increases by 1.75%. Above 600kW it will increase by 1.88%.

Working documents for comment

Residents can peruse copies of the draft budget and draft IDP at the offices of all area managers, all public libraries within the municipality and on Overstrand Municipality’s website (www.over strand.gov.za, click on strategic documents, click on budget and click on IDP).

Other IDP related sector plans also available for public comment, are the reviewed Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP), the Water Services Development Plan (WSDP) for 2017/18 and the existing Spatial Development Framework (SDF) and its related plans.

View these documents on the Overstrand Municipality’s website under strategic documents.

The Budget and IDP will also be taken to the 13 wards during the special public ward meetings in April where residents will be given a platform to comment and make representations. Community members are encouraged to attend their respective ward meetings in order to provide comments on IDP and Budget related issues.

The closing date for public comment is Tuesday, 2 May at 12:00.

The Municipality will take these concerns and comments forward before the tabling of the budget for adoption in May 2017.

Effective consultation enables decisions and plans to be approved in the knowledge that stakeholders and the public generally have had a full opportunity to express their views and make representations in a genuine and transparent dialogue.

• The final budget and Final IDP and related sector plans will be tabled in May 2017 and approved tariff increases will come into effect as of 1 July 2017.

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