Residents of Cape Town and Johannesburg will have to pay above-inflation increases in the charges for many municipal services from July 1. Yesterday, both councils tabled proposed rates for the services they provide. Public comment is invited.Electricity tariffs will on average increase by 10.82% in Cape Town. Johannesburg is planning a 12.19% increase.Property rates in Cape Town will increase by 10.83%, water and sanitation charges will go up by11% and refuse collection fees will go up by 8.33%.Despite the planned increases in water and electricity costs, Cape Town deputy mayor Ian Neilson said the council did not expect much of an increase in revenue because of a reduction in consumption of water and electricity."We are assuming a reduction in the amount of electricity sold," he said.He said electricity sales had been declining by between 1% and 2% a year since 2009.The City of Cape Town's proposed budget for 2015-2016 is R37-billion: R5.7-billion for capital projects and R31.6-billion for operational costs.In Johannesburg, the price of municipal water will increase by between 11% and 17%, depending on the amount consumed by a household.People who use less than 6000litres a month will not pay a cent, but for those who use more the increase will be 11%.Consumers of 40000litres or more will pay 17% extra from the beginning of July.The proposed property rate increase is 6%. All other tariffs, including refuse collection, would be increased by 15%.The chairman of Johannesburg's municipal public accounts committee, Sol Cowan, said yesterday he was concerned about weak internal controls, wasteful expenditure and poor management of disciplinary processes in the municipality."More of a problem for us are the consequences for officials of various infringements ... There has to be more than just a letter of warning," he said...