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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
VICTORIA Falls residents could soon be paying reduced rates after councillors and municipal management agreed on reviewing downwards the town’s $354 million budget for 2020.

The municipality crafted a $354 million budget for 2020, up from $22 million last year.

Government had approved the budget.

Pressured by residents, the town’s councillors last week wrote to municipal management on the need to review rates.

Council convened a special meeting on Wednesday and resolved to identify some sections of the budget that can be set aside.

A reviewed budget would lead to a waiver of interest on unpaid accounts and suspension of unnecessary capital expenditure and travel as well as freezing of salaries, according to the proposals made.

In an interview after the meeting, Acting Mayor Clr Patricia Mwale said while no final resolution had been made, councillors and management were in agreement on the need to review the budget downwards.

“The matter is still under discussion but we are all in agreement that something has to be done. A proposal has been made on how much should be cut but we can’t pre-empt details now as some modalities have to be done.

“Victoria Falls has its own standards and we have to look at areas which we can do without in the budget. We have left the management to identify such areas,” said Clr Mwale.

She said the decision was inspired by the prevailing economic challenges caused by Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are not just calling for a reduction but we are looking at the situation as Covid-19 has become a burden because it has brought challenges that both council and residents had not budgeted for,” she said.

“We are worried about inflation but at the same time Victoria Falls set-up is different from other towns because of its geographical location and economy. We are tourism-based hence there is no other economic activity for residents to cushion themselves with, which makes the town unique compared to other towns with alternative sources of income and revenue.”

She however, said the council will remain guided by the Urban Councils Act and Government.

Councillors said the budget will avert a humanitarian crisis and ensure that the local authority can still provide services while at the same time not over-burdening residents and stakeholders.

Hotels, lodges and businesses affected by coronavirus will also be given discount on rates and licence fees as they risk going bankrupt as borders are closed and there are no flights coming in with foreign tourists.

Some residents received water bills of up to $1 000 for the month of April as the municipality had effected the 2020 budget.

In a recent interview, Victoria Falls Town Clerk Mr Ronnie Dube said council had realised a serious decline in revenue as it collected about $2 million in April, which is less than 20 percent of its usual monthly billing of around $15 million.

Usually in other months the local authority collects about 75 percent of the monthly billing, Mr Dube said.

He said the municipality had approached Government seeking a bailout of $36,3 million for a period of three months in the wake of Covid-19 and is also engaging stakeholders to come up with alternative sources of revenue.

Government is yet to respond. Ratepayers owed the municipality in excess of $54 million as at February 28, 2020. — @ ncubeleon