Sakaja deploys 17 officers to spearhead property tax compliance in Nairobi
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has deployed his 17-strong team of tax compliance officers, three months after he suspended his officers from verifying payments to give clients time to adopt the Unified Business Permit (UBP).
Now that the grace period that allowed Nairobi residents to benefit from the waiver of land tax penalties and interest, which was announced in January, has come to an end, the governor says it is time for his team to ensure that revenue is collected.
“In these three months, we have streamlined our identification process which will have properly uniformed officers who will have devices that will be able to determine the status and validity of the UBP,” Sakaja said.
The governor also said that all the 17 officers who will be deployed in all sub-counties will soon have staff ID cards with a QR code for members of the public to scan and verify their legitimacy.
The county says the combined compliance teams will assist business owners to comply with all county requirements, and enforcement will follow later for those who still fail to comply.
The 17 teams will be led by County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) and County Chief Officers (CCOs) and will comprise various officials, including sub-county administrators and revenue officers.
“The 17 teams are tasked with checking compliance and verifying up to date payment of land rates, parking fees, unified business permits, building permits, billboards and advertisements (movable and non-movable), market services fees, house and market stall rentals, medical, health and fire certificates, loading zones among other levies, fees and charges for 2024.”
The governor announced last year that Nairobi would adopt a NO CASH policy in revenue collection as it seeks to meet its Sh19.5 billion revenue target for the current financial year.
Nairobi customers have been advised to make payments through the Nairobi City County Government Revenue collection accounts as soon as they receive their bills.
The County Executive Committee Member for Finance, Mr Charles Kerich, has also asked county customers to use the NairobiPay e-service portal.
“We would also like to advise tax payers to visit the NairobiPay e-service portal, the offices of the City Hall Annex customer service centre or any sub-county finance offices for further clarification. Business owners are encouraged to cooperate during this exercise to ensure compliance,” said Kerich.