Describing the current revenue collection system as susceptible to manipulation by crafty Entebbe Municipal Council officials, Entebbe Municipal Council will this financial year 2017/18 embark on automating it’s revenue collection system in a bid to fix all the leakages and loopholes that some crafty Municipal Council officials have been using to swindle revenue.
Mayor Kayanja Vincent DePaul who made the revelation during the reading of the 2017/18 Entebbe Municipal Council budget on Thursday at the Municipal Council Boardroom noted that Municipal Council hasn’t achieved the targeted revenue as had been projected because some municipal council officials are conniving with tax payers to swindle the revenue.
It has come to our attention that there are some crafty Municipal Council officials who are using the loopholes and leakages in the current revenue collection system to connive with tax payers to swindle revenue and this has led to less revenue being collected and thus hampering service delivery. We (Municipal Council) have resolved to computerize the system which will among others capture the location, business and telephone. Everything will be done online and will be reflected on the Tax payer’s phone who will also be able to send feedback, Mayor Kayanja explained.
He added;
KCCA automated it’s revenue collection system and the results are positive. I would like to appeal to all businesses that pay property tax not to waste time conniving with Municipal Council officials to pay less tax. Don’t be misled by the Municipal council officials because we shall find out once the automation process is complete.
A total of Shs17bn has been earmarked for the 2017/18 budget with local revenue constituting Shs4.3bn while Central Government Transfers will constitute Shs13.5bn.
A total of Shs85m has been provided for in the budget for the financial year 2017/18 towards improvement of schools infrastructure while Shs6bn will be spent on improving the road infrastructure Shs1.5bn. Municipal Council also expects a government release of Shs1.5bn for road works and will be allocated to routine road maintenance, mechanized maintenance and other works in the Engineering department.
Government through the Uganda Support Municipal Infrastructure Development Programme (USMID) will release Shs4.5bn to work on the construction of Kitooro Taxi Park.
Meanwhile RDC Rose Kirabira who also attended the budget reading urged the councilors to monitor several government programs including the Youth Livelihood Program (YLP) in their constituencies. RDC Kirabira noted that majority of councilors are ignorant about government programs and haven’t taken the initiative to find out the various programs in their areas.
She urged the councilors to work as a team to ensure that services reach the people. She bashed the community Development Officer (CDO) Robert Sekasi for lacking transparency in the allocation of Youth Livelihood Program Funds (YLP).
RDC Kirabira noted that recovering the YLP Funds is a still a challenge because many of the Youth thought the funds were an appreciation from President Museveni during the 2016 elections and have squandered the funds.
Expenditure of the 2017/18 Entebbe Municipal Council Budget.
Administration Shs1, 579,362,000
Finance Shs1, 049,758,000
Statutory Shs1, 122,556,000
Production Shs90, 379,000
Health Shs2, 579,876,000
Education Shs3, 647,249,000
Community Shs212, 333,000
Planning Shs118, 827,000
Internal Audit Shs47, 230,000
Works Shs7, 353,021,000
Natural Resources Shs37, 084,000
Total Shs 17,837, 676,000
