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8 town councils to increase service & conservancy charges Eight town councils will increase their service and conservancy charges from April 1. The town councils are Ang Mo Kio, Jurong, Marine Parade, Moulmein-Kallang, Nee Soon, Pasir Ris-Punggol, Potong Pasir and Sembawang. File photo: Blocks of HDB flats in a neighbourhood. By Dylan Loh POSTED: 27 Feb 2014 17:15 SINGAPORE: Eight town councils will increase their service and conservancy charges (S&CC) for flats, shops/offices and market/cooked food stalls, with effect from 1 April. They are Ang Mo Kio, Jurong, Marine Parade, Moulmein-Kallang, Nee Soon, Pasir Ris-Punggol, Potong Pasir and Sembawang town councils. Sembawang Town Council, which announced the increase in a statement, cited rising costs and inflation as reasons for the revision. It said: "In order to keep S&CC charges as affordable as possible for residents, the town councils have been making a conscious effort to control costs to avoid increasing the S&CC rates, despite rising inflation every year. "The town councils have succeeded in resisting S&CC increases for the last 10 years, even when the inflation rate hit a high of 6.6 per cent in 2008. "However, with current cost increases, it is becoming increasingly difficult to continue operations at current S&CC rates, with several town councils running into operating deficits." The statement cited electricity as one of the biggest contributors to cost increases for the town councils. Maintenance costs have also gone up, due to most towns having successfully undergone the Lift Upgrading Programme. The S&CC increase will be phased over two years. The first-tier increase on 1 April this year ranges from S$0.50 per month for those living in HDB's one-room flats to S$8.50 per month for executive flat home owners. Commercial property owners and tenants will see an increase ranging from S$0.10 to S$0.21 per psm/month while the increase for most cooked food stalls is between S$9.90 and S$15.83 per month. The second-tier adjustment will be effected on 1 April 2015. The S&CC increase will range from S$0.50 for HDB's one-room to S$6.50 per month for executive flat home owners, depending on the type of flat. Commercial property owners and tenants will see an increase ranging from S$0.07 to S$0.11 per psm/month while the increase for most cooked food stalls is between S$9.50 and S$12.00 per month. According to the statement, the last S&CC revision by the majority of these town councils was 10 years ago, in 2004. The last time there was an S&CC revision was in September 2012, when seven town councils -- Bishan-Toa Payoh, Chua Chu Kang, East Coast, Holland-Bukit Panjang, Tanjong Pagar, Tampines and West Coast -- raised their charges. - CNA/xq (source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/8-town-councils-to/1014402.html )

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/town-councils--el...bills-soar.html """""Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bishan-Toa Payoh group representation constituency (GRC) Hri Kumar, who is also the area's town council chairman, said that the council's utility expenses shot up from $5.9 million in 2005 to $8.2 million in the previous financial year due to a rise in electricity tariffs. The council's electricity bill accounts for around 22 per cent of residents' S&CC. In his message entitled "A Very Nasty Shock" on the council's website""""" I think his shock is a little slow leh....I think alot of us already karna shock until .... [sweatdrop] ...........haiz.....looks like he never bother to read his house PUB bill..

Title : Two town councils invested S$12m in Lehman-related structured products By : Date : 17 November 2008 1646 hrs (SST) URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../390407/1/.html SINGAPORE: The financial health of two Singapore town councils remains in the black despite their investments in failed Lehman-linked structured products. Holland-Bukit Panjang and Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Councils invested a combined S$12 million using their sinking funds. Going forward, the co-ordinating chairman of PAP town councils, Dr Teo Ho Pin, said future investments will remain diversified but will be on the conservative side. Just like thousands of Singaporean investors who have lost money on failed Lehman-linked structured products, the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council may lose its S$8 million investment. The town council invested 6.7 per cent of its sinking funds available for investment in Lehman Brothers' Minibond Notes, DBS High Notes 5 and Merrill Lynch's Jubilee Series 3 Notes. It had invested another S$3 million in Pinnacle Notes Series 6, but this investment was unaffected. For Pasir Ris-Punggol, its S$4 million investments in the Minibond Series 2 and 3 amounted to 2.6 per cent of its funds. Based on the 14 PAP town councils' latest financial statements submitted to the National Development Ministry, these investments amounted to 0.6 per cent of their total funds of S$2 billion. Like many others, the town councils are anxiously waiting to see if the Lehman Minibond notes will be making dividend payments next month. Dr Teo Ho Pin, chairman, Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council, said: "If there is a credit event that occurs next month for the Lehman Brothers' Minibond, then that will be a default and... there'll be a loss on that investment." Town councils can invest up to 35 per cent of their sinking funds in financial instruments like equities, corporate bonds and funds. Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council said while its investment income will be reduced as a result of the failed investment, its financial status remains in the black and improvement works will not be affected. During a six-year period starting from 2002, the return on its investments totalled about S$24 million. As of March 31 this year, it also has a total kitty of S$118 million. Over the last six years, the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council made a healthy investment return of more than four per cent every year. This is well above the average fixed deposit return of 0.9 per cent. With the investment income, the town council has been able to deal with the impact of inflation. Dr Teo continued: "Our assurance to our residents is that the sinking fund is still intact. We have adopted a very prudent approach in terms of investing our funds. "We have to continue to adopt a diversified investment strategy so we are able to achieve healthy returns for our town council funds, cyclical maintenance purposes and we have to balance between investment risk and returns." Six other PAP-run town councils also have exposure to Lehman Brothers through their fund managers' investment portfolio. These investments total some S$4 million and account for less than one per cent of each town council's funds available for investments. The National Development Ministry said it has no plans to amend the investment guidelines it has put in place as town councils are in the best position to decide how to manage the funds. Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu told Parliament on Monday it was not practical nor desirable for the ministry to be overly prescriptive in enforcing the guidelines, which seek to achieve an optimal balance between reasonable returns and financial prudence. Hougang and Potong Pasir Town Councils, the two that are managed by opposition MPs, have earlier said they do not have any investments related to Lehman Brothers products and their sinking funds are not affected by the failed financial instruments. - CNA/vm Copyright

At least 2 town councils to up S&C charges by Leong Wee Keat 05:55 AM Mar 09, 2010 http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews/EDC1003...o-up-SC-charges SINGAPORE - With electricity prices and maintenance costs going up, at least two town councils, Aljunied and Jurong, will raise their Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) next month. The hike will impact flats, shops, offices and market and hawker stalls. For Singaporean households in Housing Board flats, the hike per month will range between 50 cents for a one-room flat and $4.50 for a five-room flat. While the other 12 People's Action Party (PAP) and two Opposition town councils have not indicated on their websites that they will raise S&CC, could the announcements by Aljunied and Jurong herald an inevitable trend as costs rise and economic conditions pick up? The 14 PAP town councils had raised S&CC across the board in 2004 - seven years after the last revision. Coming up to the six-year mark now, town councils like Jurong have seen power tariffs shoot up by 38.4 per cent since October 2004. This impacts the town council "greatly", Jurong Town Council said, as utility bills account for 30 per cent of overall operating cost. "Electricity consumption is also forecast to increase with the installation of more lifts, linkways and amenities within the town," it added. On the frequently-asked-questions section of its website, the town council dismissed any suggestion that the S&CC hike was linked to any investments in failed Lehman-linked structured products. In the first place, it did not invest in any of the troubled financial products; and its "investments have been generating returns of 2.57 per cent per annum over the last five years", Jurong Town Council said. Meanwhile, with the growing number of lifts, and lifts making more stops in a block, maintenance costs have also rocketed. In Aljunied, for example, the monthly servicing costs have doubled from $300 to $624 where a lift makes nine more stops. And where there were just 884 lifts to maintain in 2005, there will be 1,109 by this month's end, and a projected 1,270 by 2014. Also expected to rise: The cost of keeping estates clean. "The demands on the cleaning and refuse removal contractors have changed, and so too their service costs," Aljunied Town Council general manager Jeffrey Chua said. "Because they have to meet specific performance targets, they have to pay higher wages for better trained workers." The cleaning contract rate of about $5.98 per equivalent dwelling unit each month has gone up to about $6.25. For households facing problems with S&CC payments, both town councils assured them financial help was available and urged them to approach their Members of Parliament. Residents MediaCorp spoke to want more clarity. "Neighbours complain the estate is still dirty. With the increase, I hope for more transparency on the targets achieved," Aljunied resident Reynold Seah said. Jurong resident JF Yeo said: "Any fee increase so soon after a recession cannot be good news. The town council should at least show us that our money will be put to good use." Meanwhile, Jalan Besar Town Council chairperson Denise Phua and Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council chairman Zainudin Nordin both said they had no plans for now to increase conservancy charges. Ms Phua noted that estates varied in terms of age and programmes, which could account for differences in upkeep costs.

Sians.... me kana hit sia....but i think wun be long till the rest also raise their fees... http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20100309/tap-...ha-231650b.html [At least 2 town councils to up S&C charges] At least 2 town councils to up S&C charges SINGAPORE: With electricity prices and maintenance costs going up, at least two town councils, Aljunied and Jurong, will raise their Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) next month. The hike will impact flats, shops, offices and market and hawker stalls. For Singaporean households in Housing Board flats, the hike per month will range between 50 Singapore cents for a one

From ST today: Mah: "Town councils must be accountable to their residents for what they do with the money they collect from them..." ie. Not the government's problem but the junior staff's (Remember the MSK case?) Further down... Mah: "The Govt stipulates that 20-25 percent of money collected from monthly service and conservancy charges must go to a sinking fund." Therefore, it means that (1) The govt is ultimately the one at fault (2) We are over-charged by AT LEAST 25% for our monthly conservancy charges. Why? Did we approve them to use our money for this purpose???!!! What other things are they hiding from us???