- Looking at the last six months, all the internal revenue streams recorded an increase except for markets, which took a hit and dropped in the period under review.
- In the last FY 2022-23, Nairobi's own source revenue hit Sh10.6 billion.
Image: NCCG
The Nairobi county has recorded a Sh951.2 million rise in its internal revenue for the first half of this financial year 2023-2024
Data from the county’s finance department shows that Governor Johnson Sakaja-led administration raised Sh3.56 billion in the period under review, reflecting a rise from Sh2.61 billion last Financial Year 2022-2023.
The revenue collected was from July to December 2023.
In an interview with the Star, Sakaja expressed his hope for the revenue projections, revealing why the amounts have been increasing.
"Revenue wise things are looking up, despite last year (FY 2022-2023) having been the best in the five years. At the moment, we are already surpassing it. This year will definitely be the highest," he said.
In the last FY 2022-23, Nairobi's own source revenue hit Sh10.6 billion.
Despite being way below the target of Sh18.2 billion, it was the highest achieved by City Hall in the last five years.
This was despite having a new administration and government in place and a shift in the economy due to the August 2022 elections.
"For almost half of the 2022-2023 Financial Year, I worked without a full cabinet as the CECs and chief officers came on board in the last six months of the year. But we still managed to collect the highest revenue."
Looking at the last six months, all the internal revenue streams recorded an increase except for markets, which took a hit and dropped in the period under review.
Parking fees recorded the highest collection of Sh872.69 million, land rates (Sh655.8 million), single business permits (Sh426.88 million), building permits (Sh541.35 million) while Sh244.74 million was collected from billboards and advertisements
From house rent, City Hall collected Sh233.13 million, fire inspection certificates (Sh38.32 million), food handlers certificates (Sh51.99 million), markets (Sh100.35 million) and other income amounted to Sh431.11 million.
In the last Financial Year 2022-2023, in the same period from July to December Sh798.37 million was collected from parking, land rates (Sh302.30 million), single business permits (Sh352.09 million), building permits (Sh459.51 million) and Sh189.72 million was collected from billboards and advertisements.
From fire inspection certificates City Hall managed to collect Sh29.09 million, food handlers certificates (Sh40.64 million), markets (Sh111.84 million) and other income Sh147.61 million.
Explaining to the Star why the revenue for the first half increased, the governor said going fully digital played a role.
"One of the reasons why our revenue collections have gone higher is because we fully digitised all revenue streams. City Hall is working with a strictly cashless policy," he said.
"This has enabled us to strengthen our revenue systems which had some technical hitches before. So technology has played a big part," Sakaja added.
The governor urged Nairobi residents to report any county staff asking them for any payment in cash, arguing that no legitimate City Hall staff members do so.
"If any of my revenue team members asks for payment in cash, please report them to 020 2224281, and we will take immediate action," Sakaja added.
For revenue payers, the governor advised them to visit the NairobiPay -e-service Portal (www.nairobiservices.go.ke), City Hall Annexe customer service Centre offices, or any Sub-county finance offices for further clarification.
He also reminded the residents that payments made through USSD Number *647# go to Cooperative Bank under account name Nairobi City County Revenue Collection, Account number 01141709410000 or Equity Bank under account name Nairobi City County Revenue Collection, Account number 1770279910476.
Another factor that contributed to the increase in revenue according to Sakaja was transitioning to a fully dedicated revenue authority.
He highlighted that the county is still in the process of transitioning to the Nairobi City County Revenue Administration Authority which is specifically centred around revenue.
"This will definitely help us increase revenue collection as it will be easier for Nairobi residents to even pay for their services without having to come to city hall," he said.
"The system will be easy and smooth in a way that even licenses would be processed online," Sakaja added.
The authority is expected to begin full operations this year.
To boost Nairobi’s revenue collection, Sakaja’s administration has set up a revenue agency that will be tasked with collecting all rates, and fees.
The Nairobi City County Revenue Administration Authority will be headed by a board, while the management will be under a chief executive officer, who will be the principal collector of revenue.
The authority will breathe life into the Revenue Administration Act, which was passed by the county assembly in 2019, and assented to in 2021.
The revenue projections is expected to go up following the introduction of the Unified Business Permit.
Beginning January 1, 2024, City Hall activated the electronic Unified Business Permit regime, as part of an ease-of-doing business reform initiative.
The UBP combines the business, fire, food, health, and advertising licenses into one, and will be available on the Nairobi City County Government’s NairobiPay Revenue service online portal.
The activation of the UBP regime eliminates the issuance of multiple licenses.
It has been in the development and pilot stages in recent months, and was one of the key commitments made by Sakaja in his manifesto.
In addition to the UBP, the governor noted that they have put in place security features on the permits which will help City Hall eliminate those with fake ones.
"Citizens will also be able to point out imposters pretending to give them fake city hall licenses and also the county officers will be able to detect the public with fake licenses," he added.
The county boss also noted that implementing the new valuation roll has increased Nairobi's revenue collection.
This will increase the revenue as people will pay with the 2019 rates.
"We ( Nairobi) are the first county to have a new valuation roll, as most are stuck in the 1980s," Sakaja said
City Hall has a new valuation roll, replacing the one that was last updated in 1982.
A valuation roll is a public legal document that contains information on all ratable property within the boundaries of a county or urban centre.
Under the current roll, rates are levied as a percentage of the property value. Property owners currently pay 25 per cent of the 1982 property value.
City Hall is working with a figure of between 0.1 and 0.115 of the current property value to be paid by the property owners in rates in the new valuation roll.
In addition, Sakaja is optimistic that by the next financial year looking at the numbers, Nairobi will be far in terms of revenue collection.
"We have not yet hit our targets. Nairobi can collect up to Sh50 billion but it is a shame that we are collecting Sh10 billion. The minimum should be Sh35 billion," he said.
This financial year, Sakaja aims to collect Sh19.9 billion own source revenue in the Financial Year 2023-24.