•MCAs decry poor performance of county revenue collection
•Treasury proposes aggressive enforcement, legislation of all revenue streams and use of technology
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGA
Nairobi county has once again missed its yearly revenue collection target, this time by Sh5.3 billion.
As at June 20, the total revenue collected was Sh10.2 billion against an annual target of Sh 15.5 billion.
In the financial year 2017-2018 Sh10.1 billion was collected, indicating only a tiny improvement this year .
The Fourth Quarter Budget Implementation Report for 2018-2019 shows only fire inspection and house rent met their annual targets.
Fire inspection collected Sh344 million against a target of Sh340 million while Sh563 million was collected from rent against a target of Sh560 million.
The county’s top five revenue streams underperformed.
From land rates City Hall collected Sh2.04 billion against a target of Sh3.6 billion. Parking fees amounted to Sh2 billion against a target of Sh3.03 billion.
Single Business permits were sold for Sh2 billion against a target of Sh 2.6 billion while building permits raked in Sh990 million against a target of Sh1.5 billion.
Billboards and advertising yielded Sh785 million against a target of Sh1 billion
The county revenue department blamed the use of outdated valuation rolls and poor conditions of collection for the shortfall.
Other reasons cited were waivers, unreconciled revenue data with the Integrated Financial Management Information System and Local Authority Integrated Financial Operations Management, and lack of full automation of all revenue streams.
To improve revenue performance, the county treasury has suggested aggressive enforcement on non-compliant customers, legislation of all revenue streams and use of technology to enhance efficiency.
Finance, Budget and Appropriation committee chairman Robert Mbatia expressed his disappointed with the performance of the county’s revenue collection.
He told the Star on Tuesday that City Hall has no excuse for the poor performance in last year’s revenue collection.
"During the financial year 2017-2018 we were told that being an election year, a lot was interfered with resulting in low collection of revenue. What excuse will they [executive] use this time around?’ he questioned
"If people are still applying the same old mechanism you cannot expect to have different results," he said.
Looking at the parking fees, Mbatia said lower charges might have affected the collection.
In January, City Hall revised its parking charges in the Central Business District from Sh300 to Sh200.
Parking revenue dropped by more than Sh500,000 daily since the rates were reduced.
About 4,000 private cars park in the CBD daily but since the parking fee was reduced City Hall recorded an increase of 1,000 vehicles.
"If the malls and private hospitals had been licensed and the county collected revenue from them, then the target would have been met because the difference is quite small," Mbatia said.
In the current budget, the executive has proposed different parking fees for different zones in the city .
But Mbatia questioned the practicality of the proposal.
"If one pays for parking in CBD at Sh400 and goes to Westlands whose charges are Sh300, does it mean that the motorist will pay twice? And how will the county verify in another zone that payment had been made earlier in a different zone?" he said.
Mbatia said the committee will meet the executive to explain the proposals.