City Hall spares Nairobians from tax increases
Nairobi residents and businesses have been spared an increase in taxes and licence fees, as City Hall said it would shift its focus to raising its revenue collection efficiency to finance its Sh30.8 billion budget.
Finance Executive Gregory Mwakanongo in his budget speech on Tuesday indicated that City Hall would freeze any pay rises for county staff to curb growth of the wage bill that continues to consume more than half of the county’s finances.
“In consideration of the high cost of living, the county will not be seeking to increase any fees and charges in the fiscal year 2015/16,” said Mr Mwakanongo.
“We will focus on enhancing internal efficiency and effectiveness in revenue management as well as identifying new revenue streams.”
The county will receive Sh13.4 billion from the central government and expects to raise the remaining Sh17.4 billion from other sources like parking, land rates and permit fees.
City Hall has in the past two years struggled to fund its budget resorting to drastic cuts in the development allocation towards the end of each financial year.
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SOURCE: Business Daily