The blue and green economies, youth empowerment as well as key programmes such as the Corridors of Freedom and Jozi@work are expected to feature prominently today during the City of Johannesburg’s 2015-2016 Budget.

Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Finance Councillor Geoffrey Makhubo will deliver the Budget Speech at 11am. It will be broadcast live on a number of community radio stations.

The budget will announce how much more the residents of Johannesburg will be paying for electricity, water and sanitation, refuse removal and property rates from 1 July.

This will be the last budget speech of the current mayoral term in what has been described as “The Final Push” – ahead of the 2016 local government elections – to complete or accelerate programmes identified in the 2011-2016 Integrated Development Plan (IDP).

Makhubo’s budget comes on the back of extensive, citywide Budget and IDP review processes held in March and April during which residents were invited to make inputs to take the City’s service delivery to a higher level, reports the City of Joburg.

“Your voice was heard through the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) process. The City is now ready to allocate budgets in response to your needs,” the MMC said this week.

Makhubo is also expected to take the cue from the 2015-2016 State of the City Address in which Mayor Parks Tau committed his administration to undertaking critical programmes that would “ensure that today is better than yesterday and that tomorrow is better than today” in line with the City’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040 (GDS 2040).