Johnson Sakaja is the Governor of the County Government of Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG
City Hall has posted a 17 percent growth in internally generated revenues to Sh4.5 billion in the third quarter of the financial year ending June 2023.
The upturn in revenue performance between January and March saw Sh1.42 billion collected in January, Sh1.3 billion in February and Sh1.78 billion in March.
This represents an increase compared to Sh1.39 billion in January, Sh0.99 billion in February and Sh1.45 billion in March 2022.
The latest revenue collection saw land rates record Sh1.87 billion in the three months, an increase of Sh477.6 million from the last fiscal year.
Single business permits posted Sh942.7 million compared to Sh809 million in the previous financial year.
Governor Johnson Sakaja said the county government’s own source revenue has been on a steady growth, showing a positive outlook compared to the previous financial year when City Hall recorded a paltry Sh8.97 billion.
He said they have remained resilient despite a disruptive year coupled with Covid-19 and economic downturn. “We expect sustained growth going forward and in the coming months. Collections from January to March 2023 are higher compared to the same period in January to March 2022,” said Mr Sakaja.
Read: Nairobi to set daily targets for parking staff after revenue fall
“Our immediate focus in the coming months will be to ensure that priority is trained on revenue collection with a focus to improve service delivery,” he added.
Parking fees generated Sh619.9 million, an increase of Sh49.3 million from Sh570.5 million in the last financial year.
Revenue from billboards and advertisements, however, dropped to Sh279.4 million, compared to the Sh366.1 million from last financial year.
Building permits had Sh229.6 million, house and stall rent hit Sh141.3 million, fire inspection certificates Sh134.8 million while food handlers certificates raised Sh58.9 million.
Revenue from markets was Sh78.5 million, a drop of Sh22.6 million, while revenue from other revenue streams, out of the 136 streams was Sh137.3 million, a drop of Sh862,667.
The City Hall boss said the county’s own source revenue has been erratic and unpredictable for the past years, but he is optimistic that the negative trend has been tamed.
Finance and Economic Planning CEC Charles Kerich said they are looking forward to achieving double-digit growth in parking fees, billboards and advertisements, house and stall rent, food handlers certificates as well as markets.
This, he explained, is aimed at seeing the revenue streams follow a similar trend to improvements recorded in land rates, single business permits and fire inspection certificates.
Mr Kerich said the county government recently undertook the validation of the Finance Bill 2023, which is geared toward confirming and justifying the various proposals for amendments of fees and charges.
Read: City Hall turns to Safaricom for revenue collection
The Bill will undergo public participation before being tabled in the county assembly for approval and subsequent assent by the governor.
“This will help the county raise its own source revenue to meet the ever-growing resources required for financing county services,” said Mr Kerich.
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