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City Hall officials ‘clamp’ Simmers Restaurant in Nairobi on May 14. Property owners owe the county more than Sh90 billion in unpaid rates. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU 

By KIARIE NJOROGE, gkiarie@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• City Hall collected Sh11.7 billion in the 2014/15 which fell short of the Sh17.7 billion it set at the start of the financial year.

City Hall fell Sh6 billion below its revenue collection target in the fiscal year ended in June despite a raft of reforms that included automation of parking and construction licence fee payment systems.

The county collected Sh11.7 billion in the 2014/15 which fell short of the Sh17.7 billion it set at the start of the financial year but 9.3 per cent higher than internal revenues generated the previous year.

Nairobi last year deployed a cashless revenue collection platform that is run by financial vendor JamboPay to reduce graft but so far only 30 per cent of the revenues is being processed through this system.

Report prepared by the county’s Budget Appropriation Committee shows that parking which is fully automated saw a Sh300 million rise in collection over the previous year with motorists paying Sh2 billion for the service.

Developers paid Sh1.3 billion for building permits, an amount which is Sh500 million above the previous year’s collection.

Land rates, a major source of revenue for the county saw a dip in collections. City Hall says that property owners owe it more than Sh90 billion in unpaid rates.

READ: Nairobi landowners owe City Hall Sh96bn in rates

The county is this year looking to internally collect Sh17.4 billion as part of its Sh30.8 billion budget.

The county budget is used to develop infrastructure and provide services like garbage collection, provide building approvals and street lighting in the city.

Finance executive Gregory Mwakanongo said they are counting on the efficiencies of the revenue collection automation and increasing enforcement to improve the amount collected.

“We have formed a revenue steering committee to enhance supervision and enforcement in revenue streams with high default like operation clampdown on properties with huge rate arrears,” he said.

Nairobi has been struggling to match revenue collection to its budget but this has remained a challenge due to loss of money at the point of collection and evasion by residents.

Besides land rates, some motorists are also colluding with parking attendants to avoid paying parking fees.

This is the third year that the county has not raised the fees paid by residents and businesses in the city with the last increment being in the Finance Act 2013.