Division of Revenue Bill 2005 [B8-2005] Portfolio Committee on Finance National Assembly Ismail Momoniat, Malcolm Booysen, Jo-Ann Ferreira 25 February 2005
Intergovernmental Fiscal System Section 214 of Const and IGFR Act Requires an annual Division of Revenue Bill Section 10(5) of the Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Act gives effect to Constitution ito of Consultation processes for allocations with Budget Council, Budget Forum and FFC Explanatory memorandum (Annexure E) on formulae etc Consultations take place with Budget Council and Budget Forum Extended Cabinet with provincial Premiers and chairperson of SALGA
2005 Budget Timeframes Tabling of Division of Revenue Bill with National Budget (DoR) 23 Feb 2005 Tabling of provincial budgets 24 Feb to 9 March in terms of PFMA 3 March Gauteng, KZN, Limpopo 4 March EC and FS 8 March Mpumalanga, NW and WC 9 March NC Consolidated spending figures in Budget Review Table 7.6 are initial projections only Wait for IG Fiscal Review for final consolidated figures on education, health etc, in April Municipal Budgets tabled btw 1 April to 30 June as fin year starts 3 months later
2005 Division of Revenue Bill Section 76(4) Bill of Const obligates that DoR Bill must be tabled in NA, and go to NCOP after DoR Bill is a budget bill, and Parliament can amend it in terms of ordinary rules as it is NOT a money bill Clauses 1-48 of the Bill Schedules 1-7 divides revenue btw 3 spheres Memo on objectives of bill Explanatory attachments Annexure E (also part of Budget Review) Appendix E1 & E2: Frameworks on all conditional grants (provincial and local) Appendix E3 to E6: LG allocations by municipality for both national & municipal financial year Appendix E7: MIG Appendix E8 Demographic data for Local Government Equitable share and Municipal Infrastructure Grant
DOR: Schedules Schedules 1 to 7 Equitable Share allocations (Schedules 1-3) Schedule 1 divides eq share between 3 spheres Schedules 2 divides provincial equitable share between 9 provinces Schedule 3 divides local equitable share between 284 municipalities Conditional Grant allocations (Schedules 4-7) Schedules 4 and 5 generally or nationally assigned functions to provinces/ municipalities Schedules 6 on LG grants (no division by muni) Allocations by municipality in explanatory attachments Allocations-in-kind to LG (Schedule 7)
Budget Review: Chap 7 & Annex E Chapter 7 of Budget Review summarises provincial/local govt funding Provides equitable share and conditional grant allocations to provinces and local government Annexure E provides greater detail Six parts to Annexure E Part 1: deals with how 10 factors in s214(1) of Constitution were taken into account Part 2 Govt’s response to FFC proposals Part 3 deals with fiscal framework, Part 4 and 5 provide details on prov/local allocations Part 6 concludes with fiscal framework issues in prov/LG that needs further work
Appendices E1 and E2 Grant frameworks in Appendix E1 & E2 Gazette after Bill takes effect makes it legally binding Measurable outputs & conditions Allocation criteria many use sector data, not nec certified by Stats SA (eg enrolment) Past performance 2003/04 audit outcomes some with material non-compliance with DOR Planning for 2006/07 Responsibility of national departments Grant review process for health grants Transferring dept quarterly reports?
Appendices E3 to E8 Local govt allocations per municipality in Appendices E3 to E5 Total allocation per municipality in E6 National AND municipal financial year E7 – ring fenced allocations for the eradication of the bucket sanitation system Appendix E8 provides demographic data for LG equitable share and MIG formulae
Review of Provincial and LG Fiscal Framework Census 2001 results released in 2003 New formulae for provincial and LG equitable share grants for 2005 MTEF Shift of social grants, housing and municipal health services Review of conditional grants not completed Review of LG Fiscal Framework Elimination of RSC levy Restructuring of electricity distribution is an unknown Impact of assigned functions requires more work
Response of National Government to FFC Proposals Part 2 of Annexure E
Process to consider FFC proposals FFC Submission: DoR 2005/06 Focus is on three main sets of issues Part 1 deals with the provincial equitable sharing system Part 2 deals with the LG equitable sharing system Part 3 set focus on the intergovernmental system Response should be viewed against the review of LG and Provincial fiscal review Budget Council considered prov proposals Budget Forum considered LG proposal Premiers invited at Extended Cabinet Cabinet finalises div of revenue thereafter
FFC Provincial Recommendations Equitable share formula Regular revision of weights Education component Early Childhood Development Health component Welfare component Economic activity Equity and efficiency aspects Review of Cond Grants transfer system Supplementary January 2005 proposals on social grant shift and capital grants model
Govt response to FFC provincial proposals Weights for components should be in line with spending and priorities Weights have been reassigned to take into account the shifting of the social security grant function, and share of education and health Health component should include utilisation, gender, age data Alternative and info not available or unreliable Education component of ES formula School-age cohort data retained as stabiliser ECD phase into ES formula by adjusting the age cohort to 5-17 Equal weighting proposed for school age and enrolment data Welfare component to be removed and funded as cond grant Agree, with social grants now funded as a conditional grant Supplementary proposal also taken into account Econ activity to be included/re-designed in light of provincial taxes Govt supports policy to improve revenue capacity, but will take time Economic component retained at 1%, but now less than poverty component to effect redistribution
Govt response to FFC provincial proposals Equity and efficiency Hard to implement, difficulty in reliable cost differentials for same service Same problems as related to costed-norms proposal Financing provincial infrastructure Agree with FFC proposal on backlog component which is shifted from equitable share to the provincial infrastructure grant Lack of data for capital grants model means it cannot be implemented Re-allocation of Cond Grants when underspending, and need for review Government agrees with new re-allocation clause in DoR Bill Hospital grants will be prioritised for review Other grants will also be reviewed (mainly provincial, as LG grants rationalised
Govt response to FFC local govt proposals Avoid use of funding windows in the Eq share formula NG agrees, and new formula uses a component based approach Structure of the formula should be linked to constitutional requirements NG agrees with structure that includes a basic services (S) and institutional (I) grant Also agree on revenue-raising component Govt believes not practical to implement a spill over grant or deal with other legislative requirements (formula is indicative) Use of funding windows The definition of the core drivers is described in the in paper on LG govt grants tabled before the Budget Forum today. Of the two approaches under consideration – equitalisation is difficult to implement Structure of the formula LES = S (basic services) + B (constitutional & legislative responsibilities) + I (core admin) + T(tax equalisation) + m (spillover) Spill over grant was also proposed under the original 1998 policy document Difficult to implement spillover grant & with the creation of unicities the argument is much weaker National Treasury
Govt response to FFC local govt proposals Assessment of municipal service cost Govt agrees on need to take services into account, so new formula differentiates between full and no services Formula is indicative, and getting cost info is difficult Equitable Share formula should be simple, and not too data intensive NG agrees to have a simple formula For modelling and analysis purposes we require more accurate measure of expenditure needs Revenue-raising capacity measure should be included in formula as a whole Rev component is introduced in eq share formula as a separate component and not just in I grant Assessment of municipal service cost The extent to which this can be achieved depend on reliable & credible information, and political consensus on the levels of basic service provision Review of the LES The new formula does give effect to the simplicity principle Need for alternative data given no Census in 2006 and the CRS will only be available on district level Revenue raising component The current structure (or windows approach) made it difficult to apply a revenue raising component National Treasury
Govt response to FFC local govt proposals Disbursement of capacity-building funds NG planning review of the capacity building grants Not planning an extensive formula, but criteria should be transparent Collection of municipal level data NG agrees it is necessary to collect such data Subsidisation of tariff charges of low-income households The formula targets poor households but real challenge is with regard to implementation Capacity building grants Capacity building grants will be phased out over the medium term & incorporated into the LES Allocation criteria should be published in Annexure E Collection of municipal data Govt is establishing a comprehensive data base that will be available to key stakeholders Will collect key revenue & expenditure info for policy making purposes Subsidisation of tariff charges of low income households Government issues guidelines, norms and standards on how the LES should be utilised National Treasury
Govt response to FFC local govt proposals Linking of MIG and Equitable Share Formulae already linked in many ways Both target poor households with appropriate incentives MIG has a performance component, taking capacity into account Ceding of equitable share revenue NG will consider guiding municipalities on how to cede part of their equitable share Not considering amendments to the MFMA at this stage Linking MIG and ES Basic services of component of LES take account of poor households with infrastructure MIG classify municipalities into high, medium and poor capacity MIG also has a limited lifespan of 10 years and will ultimately be incorporated into the LES Ceding of ES These guidelines will ensure that municipalities do not recklessly cede part of their ES & compromise their ability to deliver fbs National Treasury
FFC proposals on Intergov system Welcome contribution to the IGFR system Bulk of proposals are work-in-progress Proposals related to expenditure assignment, costed-norms,performance management,building institutional capacity, funding instruments for poverty-alleviation, and general improvement of management systems Expenditure assignment is complex and calls for greater cooperation Data management is key but not easy to improve on information systems to the point they are reliable and comparable
Fiscal Framework Part 3 of Annexure E
Division of revenue framework Table E.2
Schedule 1 of DoR Bill Most important slide in DoR Bill Implicitly approves the level of revenue anticipated to be collected Part 3 indicates how to get from DoR Framework to Schedule 1 All conditional grants are shifted from provincial and local govt allocations into national equitable share (as per S214 of Const) Debt servicing is included in national equitable share
New Provincial Equitable Share Broad ranging review of formula undertaken All stakeholders consulted FFC recommendations taken into account Proposed formula consist of 4 components Education, health, institutional and basic Two additional components Poverty component to make the formula redistributive Takes into account education and health pro-poor policies Takes into account pro-poor nature of developmental welfare services Economic activity component to take into account revenue raising capacity of provinces
New Provincial Equitable Share Provincial equitable share formula Education component Uses both school enrolment and census data (school-age cohort) each weighted equally The weight (51 per cent) is based on average education spending for the past three years (excluding CGs) Health component Based on people with and without medical aid and is weighted at a ratio of 4 to 1 The weight (26 per cent) is based on average health spending for the past three years (excluding CGs) Institutional component Allocated equally across provinces (11,1 per cent) and the weight is politically set at 5 per cent Basic component Population share of each province in the country’s population Weight is the residual of all other weights
New Provincial Equitable Share Provincial equitable share formula Redistribution is effected by using by assigning a weight of 3 per cent to poverty and 1 per cent to economic activity The basic component is assigned a residual weight of 14 per cent Phasing-in the formula New formula results in shifts in provincial equitable share baselines Social security grant function shift impacts as well Propose a 3-year phase-in of new equitable shares
3-year phasing Table E.8 National Treasury
Social Development Cond Grant Social security grant function administered through two conditional grants Social Assistance Administration grant to fund the administration of the function Payment of personnel,payment contractors and other commitments related to administration The administrative part of function MUST be ring-fenced Social Assistance Transfers Grant to fund the actual payment of beneficiaries Must be budgeted for by grant type Reallocations between grants and provinces to be done in terms of the Division of Revenue Act Greater control mechanisms to contain the function Administration of function in terms of relevant legislation
Other key cond grants Comprehensive housing strategy A major change relates to the accreditation of municipalities to deliver housing Infrastructure delivery Capital spending in provinces improving Spending expected to be over R15 billion annually from 2007/08 (from current R11 billion levels) National Treasury infrastructure delivery improvement plan in provinces Partnership with the Construction Industry Development Board and Development Bank of Southern Africa Focus is on education, health and roads departments Phase 1 covers all 9 education departments and pilot projects in 2 health and 2 roads departments Phase 2 will cover all health and public works departments and is planned to start in May 2005.
Local Government Allocations Part 5 of Annexure E
Local Government priorities Bulk of pro-poor spending is in provinces and local government Accelerate the rollout of free basic services Electricity, water and sanitation, refuse removal Municipal infrastructure development MIG to provide the infrastructure to rollout free basic services Contributing to job creation Facilitate better planning and decision making Capacity building Building in-house capacity in planning, budgeting and financial management
Local government Allocations Local government receives R5,4 billion extra R3,7 billion for equitable share R1,7 billion for infrastructure including R1,2 billion for the eradication of the bucket sanitation system Three-year allocations for all grants are published per municipality to facilitate proper budget planning No unallocated allocations!
Local Government Allocations National allocations an important and growing source of revenue for municipalities Comprise about 12 per cent of total LG budgets, but can be as high as 84 per cent in some municipalities Increases by R5,4 bn over the next 3 years Total allocations grows to R21,5 billion in 2007/08 from R14,7 billion in 2004/05 Equitable share is most significant comprising 56 per cent of allocations in 2005/06 allowing greater discretion at local level Equitable share increase to R11,4 billion in 2007/08 from R7,7 billion in 2004/05 Refer to Appendices E3 to E6 for municipal allocations
LG Allocations (continued) R23,4 billion conditional transfers made to LG over the MTEF Infrastructure grants also receive a major boost to address backlogs Grow to R8,3 bn in 2007/08 from R4,5 bn in 2003/04 – R1,7 bn increase over baseline Capacity building and restructuring grants are allocated R2,3 bn over the three years Mainly to support the implementation of MIG and the MFMA Support municipal restructuring Improve governance and planning systems
Revenue raising capacity component New innovation of the new model It uses imputed revenue Imputation takes account of: RSC levies in As and Cs, and Property taxes in As and Bs Imputation is necessary because of lack of and incomplete data The methodology is non-arbitrary and is cushioned from inaccurate data from individual municipalities A “tax rate” of 5% is imposed on potential revenue An amount R1,2 bn is thus reallocated through the BS component
Old LG Equitable Share Old formula has been in place since 1998 Has been criticised on the grounds that: The shares of components (e.g. S grant,I grant) are arbitrarily determined Nodal allocations which targeted selected municipalities are inequitable (FFC critique) It is not flexible to policy changes Need to take into account fiscal capacity Against this background a review has been undertaken
Key considerations The new formula responds to the following: Section 227(1) – provision of basic services Policy imperatives such as: Poverty and free basic services The fact some poor people do not have access The need to support institutions of governance Variations in capacities of municipalities to raise their own revenue (The President’s call)
Structure of Formula Accordingly the formula has the following components: Grant = Basic Services (BS) + Development (D) + Institutional Support (I) - Revenue Raising (RRC) +/- Stabilisation Constraint (C) D will be set at zero for now
Policy choices by component Basic services component 4 services are recognised Water, sanitation, electricity and refuse removal Households with services funded at R130 pm while those without services are funded at R45 pm (about 1/3) The R130 figure comes from a dplg study Future research will need to improve on the cost of providing free services Within basic service component the other policy decision is the choice of poverty line A relatively low poverty line like R800 is more redistributive than R1600, which tends to shift allocations towards urban municiplaties This raises the question of growing urban poverty For the model now, R800 is proposed
Institutional component Recognises the need to fund institutions of governance National government subsidises rather fully funds the function Elements in the component presume that: Fixed contribution to each municipality An element that recognises that the cost of administration may increase with the population serviced An element that subsidises councilor remuneration Therefore: I = R350 000+R1*Popln+R36 000* councilors
Summary of overall impact Population Indicative (Rands) Final Allocation: unconstrained % change Final Allocation: with guarantees Western Cape 4,524,335 453,727,271 497,331,204 9.6% 495,111,576 9.1% Northern Cape 984,314 219,716,996 246,590,376 12.2% 246,296,484 12.1% Eastern Cape 6,436,763 1,456,726,085 1,453,187,101 -0.2% 1,559,609,445 7.1% Free State 2,706,775 646,402,055 857,982,705 32.7% 782,029,142 21.0% KwaZulu Natal 9,426,017 1,703,711,013 1,781,307,558 4.6% 1,853,275,728 8.8% Mpumalanga 2,868,380 557,229,224 638,121,060 14.5% 607,643,192 9.0% Limpopo 5,496,148 1,182,064,835 1,266,244,958 1,264,877,933 7.0% North West 2,986,498 603,847,431 724,120,154 19.9% 682,552,712 13.0% Gauteng 9,390,546 1,519,940,088 1,678,479,884 10.4% 1,651,968,789 8.7% Grand Total 44,819,778 8,343,364,999 9,143,365,000 Total Metros 14,679,241 2,076,166,713 2,297,784,182 10.7% 2,242,187,819 8.0% Total B's 30,140,537 5,015,374,265 5,431,906,414 8.3% 5,501,016,759 9.7% Total C's 1,251,824,020 1,413,674,404 12.9% 1,400,160,423 11.8% Percentage Metros 32.8% 24.9% 25.1% 1.0% 24.5% -1.5% Percentage B's 67.2% 60.1% 59.4% -1.2% 60.2% 0.1% Percentage C's 15.0% 15.5% 3.0% 15.3% 2.1%
Clauses in the Division of Revenue Bill
Division of Revenue Bill 2005 Number of substantive amendments Social assistance now a conditional allocation. This has significant fiscal and moral risks for national government. New clause inserted to regulate roles and responsibilities of national government and provinces Different arrangements for Schedule 4 grants, especially hospital and infrastructure grants Cash management reforms related to CPD accounts with SA Reserve Bank for equitable share and social assistance allocations to provinces Housing accreditation of municipalities Alignment with MFMA now that it has taken effect 1 July 2005 Role of category C and B municipalities Number of technical amendments
Social Dev and Schedule 4 grants Social Development poses biggest moral risk Schedule 4 allocations supplement the funding of infrastructure programmes funded from provincial and municipal budgets duties of transferring and receiving officers included in separate clauses CAPEX budgets to be appropriated on the votes of provincial departments responsible for functions and not that of provincial public works department to ensure clear lines of accountability
Other Material issues Adjustment of Water Services Operating and Transfer subsidy on transfer of staff Coordination between category C and B municipalities in respect of budgets Roles and responsibilities of internal audit units Co-operative governance in respect of concurrent functions improved. Cabinet member can make recommendations where difficulties are observed Allocations stopped in terms of Bill can be reallocated to prevent under spending Non-committed Schedule 5 and 6 allocations revert back to National Revenue Fund at the end of the financial year, unless National Treasury directs otherwise Info to improve planning for next budget year
New clauses Transfers by public entities to municipalities Social Assistance Transfers and Social Assistance Administration conditional allocations Integrated Housing and Human Settlement Development allocation Water Services Operating and Transfer Subsidy allocation Duties of transferring national officer and receiving officer for Schedule 4 allocations Category C municipalities and related allocations Matters relating to internal audit units Re-allocation of allocations after stopping Non-committed Schedule 5 and 6 allocations Preparations for next financial year Unauthorised and irregular expenditure
Deleted clauses from 2004 Act Section 5(7) on withholding municipal equitable share Transfers of assets to municipalities Interim arrangements for re-allocations Funds follow transfer of functions or obligations