Victoria Falls races against clock for 2023 budget

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

VICTORIA Falls City Council has proposed a US$20 million budget for 2023.

Council is however racing against time to complete the budget formulation process and submit its statement to Government for approval before next month’s deadline lapses.

Urban and rural district councils start the process of formulating their annual budgets every third quarter with the end of November set as the deadline for submission.

Last year, the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works warned that local authorities that fail to submit audited reports to the Auditor General risk having their annual budgets turned down by Government. Victoria Falls City Council last month rolled out budget consultation meetings which were aborted after residents demanded that the council first explains how finances from the previous budget year were used.

On Friday another budget meeting was deferred to Tuesday after stakeholders demanded to first go through the proposed US$20 083 983 statement by council.

During Tuesday’s meeting, stakeholders who included residents and captains of industry demanded that council reduces the budget.

Residents proposed a between eight percent and 12,5 percent increase.

The local authority is basing its 2023 budget on the US$18 965 149 supplementary budget for 2022, making a less than US$2 million increase in the proposed 2023 budget.

Residents feel Victoria Falls’ economy was not yet stable in the wake of Covid-19 and increasing some tariffs was not ideal.

Earlier, the city treasurer Mr Neville Ndlovu told stakeholders that according to Government statutes, a completed budget should be submitted before November 25. “The deadline for submitting budgets is 25 November when all local authorities should have submitted. So the last day which can allow objections is 21 November after advertising for 30 days,” he said.

Council and its stakeholders agreed that council will sit to consider the proposal to reduce the budget.
Deputy mayor Patricia Mwale chaired the meeting in the absence of the mayor Somveli Dlamini who is in remand prison following his arrest by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission for alleged fraud.-@ncubeleon