Study confirms City’s prospects for increased revenue
18 September 2017
Last week, I received a report that sampled 7000 households and commercial properties in areas classified as middle and upper-class suburbs. This report has produced the staggering result that, in this sample group, 1166 properties (16.6%) were not being billed by the City.
Upon coming into office, it became abundantly clear that our City has challenges that far exceed the ability of our budget to resolve. Equally apparent, was the fact that the City’s revenue and billing systems were in a mess, an environment in which corruption has flourished.
Indeed, in recent weeks, several officials within the City have been arrested and suspended following allegations of claiming fraudulent refunds on behalf of property owners, collusion with property owners to inflate refunds due to them and in some instances, tempering with meter readings and credit control measures.
It was on this basis, that I initiated a revenue optimisation program, with a view to improving our efficiencies rather than passing on tariffs increases beyond inflationary levels. This program has seen an analysis of where the City is losing revenue, with a view to correcting these inefficiencies and raising more revenue to address service delivery needs. Our City faces a 10 year R170 Billion unfunded infrastructure backlog, and a historic under-investment in repairs and maintenance.