Gweru mayor Charles Chikozho has assured residents that defaulting ratepayers would no longer be taken to court, saying the parties would, instead, negotiate a payment plan.
By Stephen Chadenga
Council had given ratepayers until November 30 to settle their outstanding bills or risk attachment of their property.
“We have decided as council that the best way forward, as we go into 2018, is engagement,” Chikozho said in an interview.
“My council is committed to dialogue and being hard on ratepayers is not our expectation. But in the same vein, we also expect defaulters to co-operate.”
Chikozho, however, said council had given people with outstanding bills an option to come up with payment plans, although few took up the offer.
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Council is owed over $50 million in unpaid rates by residents and institutional customers.
Residents have often challenged council to come up with itemised bills, arguing the estimated ones were not authentic.
But council, on the other hand, has proposed prepaid water meters as a solution to effective water billing. The installation of prepaid water meters is expected to commence next year.