Motorists hard hit as county seeks revenue

Prof Mote Shali from Magogoni in Kisauni speaks during public participation forum on Finance Bill, 2019, at Tononoka Social Hall. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Motorists will be some of the hardest hit if a raft of new proposals by the county government that are aimed at realising more revenue are effected.

The Hassan Joho administration has proposed a 100 per cent increase of parking fees as he seeks to raise Sh4.5 billion, up from Sh3.68 billion realised in the last financial year.

In the proposals presented to the public yesterday, the county will raise the daily parking fees for private saloon cars from Sh100 to Sh200, while monthly fees will go up from Sh2,200 to Sh4,400.

Motorists paying for a full year will have to fork out Sh52,800, up from Sh26,400.

Vehicles of five to 10 tonnes will be charged Sh1,000 parking fee daily up from Sh500. The annual fees has gone up from Sh156,000 to Sh312,000.

The new rates were unveiled yesterday during a public participation session on the 2019/2020 Finance Bill at the Tononoka Social Hall.

Residents seeking to build permanent graves for their departed kin will have to part with Sh30,000, up from Sh25,000.

Those who want to exhume bodies will pay Sh30,000 instead of the current Sh25,000.

The cost of hiring an open ground is set to rise from Sh5,000 to Sh7,000, fees for impounded item because of non-payment levy will be charged Sh500 as opposed to Sh400, while storage charges per day will be Sh500, up from Sh400.

Those seeking to hire an askari will pay Sh500 as opposed to Sh400 every eight hours.

Finance Executive Maryam Mbaruk, who chaired the session, defended the proposed levies, saying there had been no increase for two to three years while rates for most revenue streams had been maintained because of the hard economic times in the county. “We have raised fees just in few areas in a bid to bridge budget gaps after allocations to counties from national government was reduced,” she said.

Ms Mbaruk said the county would strengthen enforcement and automate revenue streams in a bid to raise annual revenue.

She noted that recent automation of parking fees had raised the daily revenue from Sh900,000 to between Sh1.2 million and Sh1.4 million.

The county also seeks to register about 100,000 properties so as to raise land rates from the Sh1.2 billion realised in the last financial year.

Director of Revenue Ramla Mohamed said the rates on graves had not been increased since 2013 and hence the need for review.

Residents, however, asked for a review of several rates charged by the county government.

Admission fee

Caroline Oduor, from Mashinani Women Network, said admission fee for mental illy patients at Port Reitz Hospital should be reduced from Sh10,000 to Sh5,000 to enable families access health services.

Rebecca Achieng said many poor women cannot access maternity and other reproductive health services because they are asked to pay a fee, forcing some to deliver at home.

Ms Achieng’ also said the increased fees for hiring open grounds could curtail activities by youths in the county. 

Bosco Juma from Jomvu sub-county asked the county government to drop Sh5,000 garbage collection fees for jobless youths who helped to keep the residential areas clean.

Sheikh Mohamed Khalifa, a resident of Buxton estate, condemned the arbitrary hike of rents in county government estates.