City budget N$125m in the red

Despite raising its tariffs between 10% and 15% last week, the City of Windhoek still can’t balance its books.
The chairman of the City’s management committee, Matheus Amadhila, on Thursday night announced an anticipated N$125 million budget deficit for the 2015/16 financial year, which he said was mainly a result of tariff increases lower than cost recovery increases over the past five years.
The total budget tabled before the City Council amounts to N$3.79 billion, with N$179 million to go to the capital budget and N$3.61 billion towards the operational budget.
Besides pointing to current emergencies facing central Namibia, including a water crisis and electricity supply crunch, the municipality also lamented the estimated 27% unemployment rate in the city.
The influx of new settlers to the capital places more burdens on municipal services, and many of them are jobless.
“The challenge however is that the percentage of residents who cannot afford the services keeps increasing,” the City’s special management committee budget report reads.
Amadhila called on the municipality to innovate ways to broaden its revenue base and to enhance existing revenue sources.
Mayor Muesee Kazapua also announced a Mayoral Relief Fund to support vulnerable Windhoek residents.
“It is important to mention that the fund will depend on donations and contributions from the corporate sector, development partners and individual community members,” Kazapua said.
One municipal service that will not cost more in the coming year is the municipal bus service.
“The bus operation shows a deficit, which is a worldwide tendency. However, this can be limited by realising the full income potential and cutting expenditure where possible,” the council report reads.
It expects that the introduction of a new ticketing system and acquisition of new buses will improve revenue generation in that division.
“This year no tariff adjustment is proposed on the bus tickets until the Move Windhoek project is fully implemented and bus services have improved,” the council said.