The City of Johannesburg will spend over R4-billion in the coming financial year on consultants and outsourcing of special expertise for the delivery of services and projects. This was revealed by city manager Trevor Fowler during a press briefing ahead of the tabling of the 2015/16 budget before council in Sandton today.Fowler told journalists that the city spent R4.36-billion on consultants in the 2014/15 financial year. The amount would decrease to R4.023-billion in the 2015/16 financial year and further shrink to R4.11-billion in the 2016/17.While the figure is high‚ Fowler said he was pleased that there was transfer of skill to city employees and the money spent on consultants was on decline.“As we progress we will also be building capacity to do things and lower our contracted services‚” he said.Today‚ finance MMC Geoffrey Makhubo presented his budget of R52.6-billion for the 2015/16 financial year.Makhubo said the financial health of the city was in good shape and the council was able to fund most of its projects from its own coffers.“We are the only city that as a percentage of our own capex you will find that national grants are 20% to 25%. The rest we rely on our own funds. If that is not a sign of a city that is healthy‚ then I would not know what it is.“We are keeping cash levels R4-billion and above‚ just make sure that we are liquid‚” he said.But his colleague‚ MMC for environment and infrastructure service Matshidiso Mfikoe‚ urged Johannesburg residents to pay for their services in order to give the council more room to invest in new infrastructure.“People must pay for their services. That is the call to all Joburg residents who are consuming services that they get from the city. For people to avoid being on the credit control of the city‚ people must pay. We cannot overemphasize that. Please pay for the services because we also have to buy the bulk services from Rand Water‚” she said.The city will raise property rates‚ water‚ electricity‚ refuse collection and sewerage to meet increasing demand.Makhubo admitted that the increases would put pressure on ratepayers.“The pressure on the wallet or the purse is getting more and more severe. There are mechanisms that we are trying to employ together with the MMC to mitigate those issues. One is through smart meters that can be swapped from prepaid to postpaid so that people can control their own bills.”Makhubo said the revenue collection division had introduced systems to pick -up distressed customers long before their defaults reach exorbitant amounts. Payment arrangements are made to ensure that customers continue to pay despite their financial difficulties.The increases from July 1 are:- Property rates are to go up by 6%; - Refuse collection will surge by 8%; - Electricity will swell by 12.19%; and - Water and sewerage will rise by 14%.- RDM News Wire..