Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Got my first sight of the new water bill today - different to say the least. Now I find I am paying rent on a 25 year old water meter, looks like the cost of water has gone up to around 13TL a ton as well and a strange charge of 226TL for "Services", wonder what they are but no explanation at all. Guess I need to wander down to the Beli and ask the questions again, just to make sure that they have not missed off something they can charge me for - lol.

Just waiting for my TC neighbor to come home tomorrow and see what his says as well - he is not going to be a happy bear for sure.

I went in to Esentepe Belediye literally 3 weeks ago and it was 9tl a tonne. I asked if the price was going up, (so i could put more on my meter), and was told no. Is that because i don't get a bill per-se, perhaps as i load the meter up in advance?

Services is probably garden waste removal

There was a sign at Esentepe Belediye yesterday detailing the new charges for water, these are per tonne prices:

0-10 tonnes 13.20TL,
11-20 tonnes 15.64TL,
21- 50 tonnes 18.35TL,
over 50 tonnes 48.19TL

Below it said this(translation):

Service fee (cleaning, medical fee) will change to 226TL as of 1 May 2023.

How much is the meter rental? Used to be 5TL pm.

Should say that the new style meters we have in Esentepe area have always charged on a tiered basis, so you think you are buying X no. of tonnes at a fixed price but all you are really doing is buying credit. The meter moves you through the tiers as you use up your tier allowance. You can see the indicator on your meter T1 - T4. We somehow managed to get to tier 4 last month and our meter reading went from 69 'tonnes' to about 10 in a week. Not sure when it clicks over but assume it's about 30 days and then it resets.

come_on_aylin Thanks for that information. The water prices are the same for Catalkoy as is the Service Fee of 226tl. The service fee does not include removal of garden waste!!! I am on the old style water meter and the meter rental for my 25 year old meter is 2tl a month - bargain that it still works - lol.

Looks like the new Joint Belediye is getting its act together and although the prices have raised considerably the service - from Catalkoy - is excellent so have no complaints.

Very interesting reading re Catalkoy charges.
Does anybody have the same charge list for Girne please.

Also in certain parts of Girne, Dogankoy, we have not had ANY meter readings for many months now. We are only getting charged for 10tn per month BUT it has been indicated that when the meters are finally read the ADDITIONAL water accumulated, over the 10 tn monthly paid for, will be charged to us at the new rate. It some casses this is going to be almost 100tn. Now that has to be wrong eh?

Thanks
Tanky

So the charges in Catalkoy are the same ?

Many are complaining in Catalkoy about the new bills; not just the increased cost of water, but they are clearly 'chancing it' with this 'special services' charge. This should be an charge for additional charge for what it says, i.e. spraying your garden, in your house (infestations), septic tanks for bugs, or additional bulk waste removal above the norm.

My TC friend went to the office and queried this 'special charge', oh sorry our mistake they said, yeah right when everyone has it on their bill. So I went and did they same and had it removed, as they couldn't show me what extra service I had received.

Also Catalkoy has not been issuing annual council tax bills for some time (used to be be A4 red printed bills) - these now seem to be on the normal bills- perhaps to get more people to pay? Interestingly, a family member of the council bill blew up outside my gate - debt of over 20,000 TL on it. Would 'normal people' get away with this without having their services cut!

I have to say since the joining of Catalkoy with Esentepe, our services have not been good- in 30+ years here I have never seen rubbish bins overflowing ever, but now can do so for several days on the street, The streets are hardly swept now; not helped by the 'sweepers' sitting all day on their backsides at the Cami, waiting for knock-off time. Worker supervision is non-existent. We never had this when the baskan lived in the village in my humble opinion. They also need to clamp down on municipal workers also doing their 'second job' in work hours - mainly seems to be septic tank and water tank services as main culprits.

A friend got this bill from Esentepe Belediye. I realise there are late payment charges on it and the charge is for more than a single month but the TMZ charge is a new one, any ideas?

My main outside on/off swith snapped off when I tried to turn it off. Phoned Esentepe Bele. Came down inside 2 hours. Said you have to pay. OK. Went up to Bele to put money on card .Said extra charge of 200tl.I said no problem. Got home and translated the bill. Screwdriver fix.

Our bin was emptied last week in Catalkoy and obviously the bag was thrown and missed the lorry. Broken glass and household refuse all over the road outside our gate. It was left. Obviously when the bin men now come in the middle of the night they can't see what they are doing apparently! Especially as the street lights only illuminate in a rota type sequence. We swept the mess up. They used to be great. This year they may well find the new year tip from us is vastly reduced!!

I have just picked up my friends water bill - her villa is in Catalkoy.

It gives the cost of water usage plus the 226.05tl for Hizmet/TMZ Resmi but further down there is a charge of 250tl supposedly for Ek Hizmet. Google translates this as "additional service"??

Does anyone know what this is please?

No. We had a 10 tl charge last month for this, but hubby went up to the office to get an explanation of all charges. Water pricing has gone up, as mentioned by coa, new charge of 226 Hizmet/TMZ resmi, but told 10tl charge from last month as Ek hizmet now included in Hizmet/ TMZ resmi. I think you need to query it.

Thanks Terri299. I'll go on Monday.

come_on_aylin wrote: ↑

Fri 12 May 2023 11:16 am

but the TMZ charge is a new one, any ideas?

"TMZ" is sometimes used as an abbreviation for "temizlik" (ie. cleaning), be it for the cleaning position, as shown in the image below, or, in this case, for the charge being applied by Çatalköy/Esentepe Belediyesi for cleaning that they claim to carry out.

You think you've got it bad
Lapta-Alsancak-Camlibel water plus 'other' = 63.83 TL then add on 'Screwdriver fee' = 664 inc KDV, total 729TL!

They are out and about clearing paths of weeds and long grass. A little moan and letter goes a long way !!

Now I have got over the increase, and having my British head on how we refer to the bills.
The yearly immovable property tax but often known by 'us' as council tax. No it's purely the property, the water bill as 'we' call it covers electric,cleaning, rubbish, insect spraying etc so if 'we' all think what the council tax covers police, education etc, I am now thinking it's not so bad for the service I personally receive. Dustbin emptied twice a week, street swept at least monthly, street lights which work, insect spraying. The bad part is inflation as wages will have to go up to cover the extra 200tl a month.

snd1966... You are definitely one of the lucky ones. Living in Ozankoy 12 yeas ago we were indeed having bins emptied twice a week. After about 2 years that dropped to once a week. Now living in Karaagac, we can't even guarantee once a week!!