House of drama!!Nairobi MCAs rejects proposed Finance Bill

 

Nairobi county treasury  introduced   new levies and higher taxes in some sectors through the proposed finance Bill however the County Ward Representatives have vowed to reject the bill until it is amended.

This comes after the capital residents demanded a review of the bill to reduce the charges in the proposed Finance Bill.

Nairobi MCAs echoed these sentiments and asked for the bill to be revised to lessen the burden on city residents.

Members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee have been holding public participation forums on the bill where residents were opposed to the imposition of news taxes churches and collections of garbage in the city and at a residential area.

Committee chairman Robert Mbatia added that he will make sure residents are not over- taxed.

“Issues that came out during our meetings were to do with the proposed levy on waste and lack of water. Residents of Waithaka felt more water bowsers should be hired to address the shortage,” Mbatia remarked.

The proposed levies on tents and preaching at parks also caused a lot of concern because these type of activities are very common in the area,” he added.

Embakasi MCA Michael Ogada also urged the executive to maximize existing revenue streams to address the budget deficit.

According to the bill proposed in a bid to bridge the 2018/2019 budget deficit,Nairobi residents  are expected  to pay more taxes  on garbage collection which  has been imposed on homes with those in informal settlements parting with Sh100 per month, Sh300 for middle case estates and Sh500 per month for high-end suburbs.

New  levy has been imposed  on the  parking fees rates  for saloon cars have also been revised from Sh300 to Sh400 per day.

Learning institutions were not spared , day primary, nursery and day cares with over 850 students will be required to pay up to Sh30,000 per month for garbage collection. Boarding primary, secondary, universities and colleges with students above 2,000 will be required to pay up to Sh65,000.

The County Treasury is also seeking to introduce new levies on ATM machines in the city, revise charges on billboards, gaming and lotteries.

The Chair of the County Assembly Budget and Appropriation Committee Robert Mbatia however said they will not allow Nairobi residents to be to be overtaxed in order to bridge the budget deficit.

“As a Committee our first role is to represent members of the public. We understand that Nairobi residents also need quality service delivery, but we have to balance to ensure they are not overtaxed,” said Mbatia.

His sentiments have been echoed by Embakasi MCA Michael Ogada who wants the County Government to optimize the already existing streams to raise revenue.

“You cannot bridge the deficit by overtaxing poor Kenyans. First of all you should tell us if the taxes we allowed you to collect you collected optimally, because when you look at some areas they have done like 50 per cent which means there is room to improve so their inefficiency should not be transferred to the public,” said Ogada.

If the MCAs ill go ahead to pass the bill,cost of living in Nairobi will rise.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *