SINGAPORE - Sengkang Town Council (SKTC) will be increasing service and conservancy charges (S&CC) for its residents and tenants from March 1, 2025.
This will make SKTC, which is run by the Workers’ Party (WP), the last of all 17 town councils here to raise such fees.
SKTC said on Monday that it would raise its monthly fees by between $1 and $14.50 for most HDB flats in less than two years.
Other property owners and tenants will see an increase ranging from 2.19 cents to 30 cents per sq m. The minimum charges for shops and other commercial property will also rise by $10.50.
The planned hike comes after Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, which is also under the WP, and People’s Action Party-run town councils announced two-stage increases to S&CC, with the first phase of the increases taking effect earlier in 2023.
The next phase will take place in 2024.
SKTC said: “As with many other town councils, SKTC faces considerable cost pressures due to high inflation, higher energy prices and rising tender rates for various maintenance and upkeep operations.
“Even as we continue to ensure that town council operations are managed in a cost-effective manner, the increase in the S&CC is necessary for SKTC to maintain sufficient funds for estate maintenance and upgrading works in the coming years.”
On its decision to increase S&CC later than other town councils, SKTC said raising the rate sooner would have left residents with less breathing space amid financial pressures such as higher food prices, transportation and housing costs, as well as the eventual increase in goods and services tax to 9 per cent in 2024.
“To ease this transition, we have carefully evaluated the timing of the S&CC increase and decided that implementing it earlier would not be fiscally responsible, as it could lead us to carry a surplus beyond optimal levels in the near term, even as we anticipate increased expenditures to come,” it added.
The S&CC will remain unchanged for two-room and three-room flats paying normal rates. Such rates are payable in various circumstances such as when the owner, tenants and authorised occupiers are not Singapore citizens.
SKTC said: “While striking a balance between the needs of SKTC and cushioning the impact of the rising cost of living, we are pleased to share that we have received confirmation from the Ministry of National Development (MND) that our arrangement meets the requirement for the MND special funding support package to reduce the impact of S&CC increases on residents.”
Residents who need financial support can contact their MPs at the Meet-the-People-Sessions for help.
The last time Sengkang residents saw an increase in S&CC was 2018, when the constituency was still under the ruling PAP.
Since 2020, the constituency has been run by the WP, after it caused the largest upset of the 2020 General Election by clinching 52.13 per cent of the vote against a 47.87 per cent share for the PAP.
Of all 17 town councils, SKTC was the only one with a lower rating in the MND’s town council management report for financial year 2022, as slightly more than 40 per cent of the town’s monthly S&CC was overdue.
