Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili, [email protected]
GOVERNMENT has directed Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to improve its revenue collection efficiency by 22 percent during the second quarter of the year.
The directive comes at a time when BCC service debt ballooned to US$52 million in March as residents, industries and Government departments owed the local authority various amounts.
Councillors said some consumers were reluctant to pay their bills because they had been discouraged by the high bills they received.
The directive by Local Government and Public Works Permanent Secretary, Dr John Basera was part of the conditions of approving BCC’s 2024 budget.
The city’s budget was approved on March 22 with the Government ordering the council to also complete auditing its accounts.
“The Minister of Local Government and Public Works has in terms of Section 47(1) of the Public Finance Management Act Chapter 22:19 approved the 2024 budget for City of Bulawayo, on condition that the council ensures that its audits are completed by 31 May 2024 in compliance with the Public Finance Management Act (Chapter 22:19). We request that you submit detailed monthly progress reports on the outstanding audits,” said Dr Basera.
“Revenue collection efficiency should improve from 38 percent to at least 60 percent in the second quarter of 2024.”
Dr Basera said BCC should also develop a programme that ensures a continuous engagement with residents. He said the Government will implement stringent monitoring of the highlighted issues every quarter during the year.
This is contained in the monthly council minutes released yesterday. BCC’s finance department stated that there is a need for co-operation from the departments in ensuring the fulfilment of these conditions.
“It would require departments to co-operate with external auditors by expeditiously providing information and documentation required. It would call upon all staff to put extra effort in meeting the audit time-frames stated above,” reads the minutes.
“To improve collection efficiency, departments should ensure that their service delivery mandates meet the expectations of customers who in turn would support the council through timely payment of bills. It also called on the council to work as a unit in implementing debt recovery measures on amounts that were genuinely overdue.”
The report shows that as at March, the council was owed US$52 million. Domestic debtors have the highest debt of US$29 million, followed by industrial and commercial debtors who owe US$14 million while Government departments owe BCC US$3 million.
According to the report, the city recorded a 30 percent increase in debtors between February and March and the council attributes the rise to continuous rebasing of tariffs as the country was still using the local currency.
The council said it was facing resource constraints in the debt management section.
As part of the debt recovery strategy, the council disconnected some of the debtors.
During the month under review, the city’s creditors increased by four percent from US$13,2 million to US$13,6 million.
BCC said its debt is partly due to the procurement of infrastructure development equipment.
“The yellow equipment for service provision was acquired by council and funded by an internal loan facility in US dollars; and the current balance amounted to US$580 736,” reads the minutes. —@nqotshili
Online Reporter