Bulawayo residents will have to brace for a massive hike in rates in January after the local authority`s 2020 supplementary budget was approved.
In a statement, the Town Clerk, Christopher Dube revealed that the 372% adjustment will be factored into the January bills.
The rates are likely to be further adjusted by 421 percent based on the 2020 budget, when the proposed 2021 budget is approved.
“The City of Bulawayo would like to advise members of the public and its valued customers, that the 2020 supplementary budget has been approved,” said Dube.
“Charges will be going up by 372 percent”.
Contacted for more clarification, the Town Clerk added that the supplementary budget is still not enough to deal with issues of service delivery.
“Even with the increment made, the money is little, even collections are not adequate for us to deal with the issue of service delivery, but we are looking at other alternatives like the private partnerships and also to a certain extent to borrow loans to make an impact on service delivery that something is done, for roads and water in particular,” he said.
The local authority had proposed a ZWL$2.85 billion supplementary budget for October to December 2020.
It was expected to be implemented in October but had to wait for approval from the Local Government ministry.
