EXEMPTION RESULTS IN MALKERNS RATES DROP BY 7.14%

MBABANE – A court ruling has resulted in a significant drop of rates collected by the Malkerns Town Board.

According to the town’s financial statements which were presented during a meeting that was held last week, the municipal rates dropped from E15.4 million to E14.3 million. Independent calculations by the Business Desk unearthed that this drop was equivalent to 7.14 per cent. 

Malkerns Town Clerk Melusi Hlanze explained that during the past financial year there was an application by 60 ratepayers to be exempted from paying rates because their residences were not part of the town.

He said the High Court ruled in their favour in a judgment that was handed down on May 9, 2018.
“We also engaged them. There was an agreement that they will be excluded from paying rates.

We then gave them a credit note,” said the town clerk recounting what had been discussed during the meeting.
The drop in rates collected resulted in an overall decrease of the town’s revenue during the financial year ended March 31, 2019. The revenue dropped to E14.8 million from E16.0 million, the previous year.

Other contributing factors were a slump in government subvention which was E520 000 compared to last year’s E615 000.

Surplus

Worth noting was that the Town Board recorded a surplus of E11.3 million during the year under review. The previous year it stood at E13.0 million.
On another note, it was said that ratepayers complained about government defaulting in some payments.
Hlanze said it was explained to residents that government had not been making payments for quite some time, but in the last few months, it started making payments. He added that government was now up to date with the payments.

Hlanze said some of the payments did not reflect in the financial statements because they were made late after books had been reconciled.
“These will be recorded in the incoming financial year,” Hlanze said when assuring the ratepayers.

He also mentioned that they also took submissions for their Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the next five years. Hlanze stated that some ratepayers stressed that Malkerns should remain an agricultural town.

He stated that they had authority to tell people not to establish human settlements in certain areas that fall within the borders of the town.
He was quick to point out that the only structures that would be permitted on these areas would be warehouses and factory shops. These warehouses would then store the farm produce.

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