MUTARE City Council has extended its rates payment promotion by one month as the local authority seeks to recover over $20 million owed by residents in unpaid rates.
BY KENNETH NYANGANI
Last month the local authority slashed the rates by 50% in a bid to entice the ratepayers to pay up. The waiver which only benefited ratepayers who managed to clear their debts in two months was supposed to end this month.
City mayor Tatenda Nhamarare confirmed the development but declined to give more details saying he was in a meeting.
However, a councillor who spoke on condition of anonimity said the agreement was reached following consultations with Manicaland Provincincial Affairs minister Mandi Chimene.
“We appreciate that the economy is not performing well and we decided that we should extend the deadline by one month so that those who are yet to pay come and settle their debts,” the councillor said.
“So far the response is still average and after extending the waiver we are hoping that almost everyone is going to pay their dues.”
Customers who were paying their accounts timeously and whose accounts were up-to-date as of March 31, would be awarded a credit of 50% on their monthly bills over a period of two months.
