Otjiwarongo: Residents of Otjiwarongo should expect to pay more for their monthly municipality bills as of 01 July 2026. Otjiwarongo Mayor, Leonard Simushi, announced that the municipality rates and taxes on properties, solid waste, sewage services, and cemetery services, amongst others, will increase by 3 per cent each on 01 July 2026. This announcement was made at a special council meeting where the municipality's N.dollars 215.5 million capital and expenditure budget for the 2026/2027 financial year was tabled. According to Namibia Press Agency, Simushi noted that the average tariff adjustment has been proposed on selected services, excluding water. The budgeting process involved careful consideration of competing priorities, extensive deliberations, and a clear recognition that the council must balance service delivery demands, infrastructure sustainability, and financial discipline. To achieve these objectives, the capital projects budget of nearly N.dollars 51 million and operational costs of about N. dollars 165 million, including maintenance for existing and ageing infrastructure, were tabled. Revenue collection from charges of monthly rates and taxes, land sales (N.dollars 7 million), Road Fund Administration contribution (N.dollars 15 million), and government subsidy (N.dollars 36 million) total N.dollars 215.5 million. Simushi highlighted a challenge, stating that as of March 2026, outstanding debts in rates and taxes owed to the municipality by the business community, government ministries, pensioners, and the general public had reached nearly N.dollars 80 million, impacting the council's ability to deliver services. Otjiwarongo Deputy Mayor, Sebetius Guiteb, expressed full support for the budget, emphasizing its focus on the needs of inhabitants. Guiteb also supported a motion to write off the 90-day pensioners' debts on rates and taxes, amounting to N.dollars 10.5 million owed to the municipality. Simushi, along with councillors Magano Jonannes, Ernest Afrikaner, and Gerd Sohrada, agreed to writ e off the debt, stating that the proposed budget will be submitted to the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, James Sankwasa, for approval or objection before implementation. Notably, councillors Namibia Kandume and Godhardt Hoko were absent from the meeting.