Some relief for indigent and pensioners in 2025/2026 budget

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GEORGE NEWS AND VIDEOS - George residents will be coughing up between 4% and 6% more for municipal services, but at the same time the nearly R5b budget approved by the George Council on Friday 30 May does offer a little relief for indigent and low-income residents, as well as property-owning pensioners.

In her budget speech, Mayor Jackie von Brandis said in light of the current economic conditions, new measures were put in place to assist these groups.

One is the indigent support programme that introduced two different levels for indigent subsidies. On level 1, the qualifying threshold has been upped from R5 460 to R6 000, and these households will receive a 100% indigent subsidy. Level 2 indigent households - with an income of between R6 001 and R9 000 - qualify for a 50% subsidy.

Another newcomer is that indigent pensioners will no longer be required to re-register for their subsidy each year.

Hard blocking of pre-paid meters will also be a thing of the past due to the introduction of a sliding scale according to which a percentage (between 55% and 65%) of the electricity purchases of residents in arrears will be collected by the municipality. Meters will only be blocked where tampering with an electricity meter can be proved.

To assist property-owning pensioners, double-digit increases (14%-15%) in the percentage rebates (on the first R2.25m of the value of their home) at different levels of income have been approved, except in the highest bracket where a 5% increase was granted. The income thresholds have also increased to pensioners' advantage.

All other property owners will benefit from the primary rebate on property tax with the exempt amount increased from R150 000 to R230 000, which represents a 53% higher rebate.

The operating budget totals R3.94bn.

Von Brandis said the municipality is impacted by a reduction on spending trickling down from the national to the provincial government, with local government having to pick up the shortfall to ensure that services continue.

She said they have tried to ensure a sustainable budget that also takes into consideration the needs of residents.

Tariff hikes were contained within the 4% to 6% inflation target band:

• property rates: 5.5%
• electricity: 10.9%
• water: 6%
• sanitation: 5.5%
• refuse: 6%

Von Brandis stressed the importance of spending on infrastructure maintenance to attract investment and highlighted a number of capital outlays from the R907.02m capital budget:

• roads: R185.75m;
• streetlight replacement: R12.63m;
• improvement of safety and security: R19.42m;
• new fleet vehicles: R39.9m; and
• electrification of informal settlements: R600 000.

Budget rejected by ratepayers

Dr Dennis Farrell of the Business Café and the Ratepayers' Alliance's chairperson, Jacques Wessels, have rejected the budget, saying the municipality has not responded to their public participation submissions that point out a large number of matters of concern in the budget.

They elaborate on this in an interview with Group Editors' digital head, Ilse Schoonraad, who also interviewed the mayor and CFO Riaan du Plessis.

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