​The sitting of municipal council meeting held today; 26 May 2022 has approved the final draft budget which has gone through a series of public consultations during the month of April 2022.And the approval of this budget for the upcoming financial year beginning on the 1stof July 2022 signals a high level of commitment by the municipal leadership in rapidly responding to the service delivery imperative of water and sanitation services in the district.Council has approved a total budget of about R1,7billion for the financial year 2022/23 with an allocation of about R1.3 billion to operational budget and a capital budget allocation of more than R347 million. This draft budget is seeking to strike a balance between on-going service delivery imperatives of water and sanitation services while also responding to the challenges of ageing municipal infrastructure throughout the district.In presenting this budget, mayor Cllr Phumlile Mthiyane emphasised that, “this budget will mainly focus on the core municipal function of water and sanitation services with major projects of water and sanitation expected to be implemented across the district to ensure security of water supply in the district. And in ensuring a good upkeep of our infrastructure, an allocation of 4% of the total budget has been made towards the maintenance of our infrastructure”.Tariff increases for the year have been kept at below minimum despite the major increases on our input costs from Eskom and Umgeni Water on bulk water supply and also a projected staff salary increment of 4,8%. A tariff increment of 6,5% for water and sanitation services has been approved and will be levied to all our consumers with effect from the 1stof July 2022.ISSUED BY:UGU DISTRICT MUNICIPALITYFor more information and media queries contact:Municipal SpokespersonMr France ZamaFrance.Zama@ugu.websitesupport.co.za​