The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has unveiled a proposed budget of US$264 million for 2024, with improved service delivery as the main priority.
The 2023 budget was US$244 056 873 with a slight adjustment for the 2024 budget which is set at US$264 064 416.
The revenue budget is projected at US$ 167 462 100 while the capital budget is $96 602 316.
Presenting the proposed budget at a consultative meeting on Tuesday, BCC finance manager accounting services Isaac Matare said they into consideration the economic hardships faced by residents. S
“If we had to do everything, this budget could have been seating on $400 million, if we had to do the aspirations of the city, our budget as we originally planned it, it was seating around $372 million but that would have translated into an increase of tariffs in the regions around 20-23 percent increase in tariffs,” he said.
Matare said the economy of Bulawayo cannot sustain such rate increases.
“But we looked at the economy of Bulawayo, can it sustain rate increases, we discovered that it’s going to be very difficult to even justify those increases, so we maintained our charges and our budget,” he said.
He said in 2024 they are also planning to improve some services in the city.
“We want to put elevators at the city hall, it’s quite a challenge to those who are physically challenged to go to the mayor’s office, it’s on the first floor, we have a lift system but it needs to be rehabilitated, so we are budgeting for that in the coming year,” said Matare.
“Those who have had the privilege to go to the Tower block would have noticed that there is one elevator working, already we engaged some supplier who is now fixing it, we are finalising the contract so that he can fix the other lift so that your movement between ground floor and the last floor in that building is smooth, but currently we have 1 lift working,” said Matare.
He added, “We are also looking at the structural damages that have happened at revenue hall and Tower block, it’s a building that was built in 1976, it now needs to be taken care of to address some structural damages.”
He said the local authority will also replenish its fleet of service delivery vehicles in the coming year.
“We need to buy refuse removal trucks, we need to buy tipper trucks, these are some of the tools of trade that we use as a council in order to provide the services. So the budget is covering for the purchase of some of these tools.
“Council had a tanker which moved fuel between the various stations, as well as a plant which is located out here doing work, but unfortunately that tanker had a challenge as it was beyond repair, now we are ferrying our fuel in drums which is also quite dangerous and part of the budget is aimed at addressing some of these shortcomings, we should not be carrying fuel in drums but we should be carrying our fuel using tankers. We have our main holding points where we collect the fuel and then feed all other destinations,” said Matare.
