The largest cities in South Bohemia are increasing some service fees for next year. České Budějovice will increase the price of heat, people will pay 6.5 percent more. The city will keep other prices for services at the same level. Tábor is increasing the price of municipal waste collection. This is according to a poll conducted by the Czech Press Agency.
This year, residents of České Budějovice are paying CZK 788.59 without tax for a gigajoule of heat from the municipal heating plant. From January it will be CZK 839.90. “Part of the reason for the increase is that VAT has been raised from 10 to 12 percent. But in reality it means that for an average flat a family will pay CZK 1,026 more per year for heat. This is CZK 85 per month, which we believe is not such a dramatic change,” said Petr Maroš (ODS), deputy mayor of České Budějovice. “In our opinion, we can still look for reserves (in the budget) and not pull money from the people,” Maroš said.
Approximately 95,000 people live in České Budějovice. The city with the second highest population in the South Bohemian Region is Tábor. Consumers there will pay CZK 846 per gigajoule for heat from the new year, which is CZK 90 more than this year. The price of public transport remains unchanged. However, Tábor will increase the fee for waste collection, which will cost CZK 960 per person from January. It is 264 CZK more than this year. The city wants to reduce the loss it makes on municipal waste collection. The annual cost of this operation is approximately CZK 50 million. Currently, the city collects CZK 21 million in fees. The remaining amount will be paid by the town hall. “Even after the increase in price, we will not raise enough to cover the entire cost. But it will reduce our loss. According to calculations, we should collect about CZK 30 million and the city will pay the extra 20,” said Tábor mayor Štěpán Pavlík (Tábor 2020).
Source: CTK
