The ANC dominated Council approved a budget of R 690 789 751 at the recent Council meeting, despite voracious opposition from the DA.
The bulk of the operational expenditure will once again go towards staff costs with a budget of R 213 286 840.
A provision for debt impairment was budgeted at 9 %.
“There is a depreciation figure of R 80 million which was queried by the DA as we have not seen an asset register and do not know what assets are being depreciated, “ said DA Caucus leader Chimpie Cawood.
Furthermore, no provision is being made for an asset replacement fund, despite R 80 million depreciation being budgeted for.
Income is being budgeted at R 616 122 918, with R 138 420 009 coming from assessment rates.
The DA did query the new valuation roll as there have been a number of complaints lodged by ratepayers, but once again, the ANC decided not to listen to the input from the opposition party in Kouga.
No mention or provision has been made in the Budget for judgements obtained by creditors against the Municipality.
We do not therefore know when next the Sheriff of the Court will pounce and attach more assets of the Municipality.
The AG in the 2012/13 financial year made provision for contingent liabilities for R 50 949 943 for claims against the Municipality as well as fines that could be imposed due to there being no permits for some of the land fill sites.
It appears that the repairs and maintenance budget of R 43 million could well be “redistributed” during this financial year, leaving Kouga residents in the lurch once again when it comes to service delivery.
The Municipality once again received a qualified audit opinion from the Auditor General. The AG’s report contained no less than 59 audit exceptions.
kougademocrat 
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