03 Sep 2020

Selebi Phikwe Town Council has appealed to residents and the business community to clear rates and service levy arrears.

  Principal accounts officer, Ms Kerotse Kwapa said to date, the council was owed P18 million and P6 million in rates and service levy arrears respectively.

Ms Kwapa explained in an interview that rates should be paid by all property or plot owners.

Failure to pay rates and service levy crippled the town’s development agenda as the funds collected through such avenues were used to augment the council budget, she said.

Out of the P18 million rates debt, Ms Kwapa said P10 million was owed by developed residential plot owners while holders of undeveloped residential, commercial, industrial and industrial agricultural plots were P8 million in arrears.

She said out of the 5 357 developed plots, council expected to collect P5.1 million annually.

On service levy, Ms Kwapa explained that it must be paid at the rate of P23 per month or a once off amount of P276 a year.

Ms Kwapa said council  authorities had observed that some community members were reluctant to clear their debts resulting in millions of rates and service levy arrears. 

She emphasised that service levy did not only cover sanitation but also enabled council to cater for other services aimed at improving daily lives. 

Council, she said, was devising strategies to intensify revenue collection. Ends