Staff writer
Residents and ratepayers in Harare will be paying a monthly $1 levy in a bid by the local authority to rehabilitate public street lighting system in the city.
In a statement, the local authority said the levy will go a long way in reducing crime rate in the city where public lightning system has not been functional for decades.
Read the statement:
“Street Lighting Levy
The levy is meant to raise funding for the installation and rehabilitation of streetlights across the city.
The monthly charge shall be USD1.00 per rated property.
This will improve the public security situation in the city and contribute to crime reduction. The city has experienced an increase in cases of mugging especially against women and night travelers.”
The local authority has also introduced an emergency services levy in a bid to equip medical emergency services.
” The emergency services levy shall be charged to all rated properties in Harare for the purposes of adequately equipping the emergency services function of the City of Harare.
The City currently has four (4) ambulances which are limited runners against a requirement of at least thirty-two (32) ambulances to effectively service Harare.The monthly charge shall be USD 1.00 per rated property.”
Residents and ratepayers will also pay a water infrastructure levy.
“Special Water Infrastructure Levy will be charged to all properties connected to the City’s water infrastructure.
The monthly charge shall be USD1.00 per property for high density residential and USD3.00 for low density residential.
Commercial properties will be charged as a percentage of water consumption as billed for the respective month at a rate of 7.5%.
The levy is earmarked to repay the China-Exim Bank loan facility of USD 98 million inclusive of interests and penalties thereof.”
Council added that “these levies are charged in terms of Section 273 of the Urban Councils Act which allows Council to “for the purpose of recovering in whole or in part the expenses incurred by it in executing, maintaining or operating any works, fix and levy a special rate upon all rateable property in that portion of its area which derives benefit from such works”.