This archive report was first published on 5 July 2021.
Published on July 5, 2021, Nairobi County government has announced plans to take legal action against business owners who fail to pay levies, in a bid to improve income and meet its revenue targets.
The county's Finance and Economic boss Allan Igambi said that the county will first demand unconditional payment of outstanding arrears before taking legal action.
"To achieve this, we shall provide the necessary tools to facilitate the collection, inspection, and enforcement of revenue collection," Igambi said.
The county government aims to raise Sh19.8 billion as internal revenue in the financial year ending June 30, 2022, to fund its Sh39.6 billion budget.
City Hall has been experiencing dwindling own source revenue returns from its 136 revenue streams, consistently failing to hit its revenue targets.
For instance, the county government realized a paltry Sh8.53 billion against a target of Sh17.3 billion in the financial year ended June 30, 2020.
This represents a drop of close to Sh2 billion from the Sh10.17 billion recorded in the financial year ended June 30, 2019, against a target of Sh15.21 billion.
The county government plans to introduce new levies and increase the number of rateable properties in the city to achieve its revenue targets.
It also aims to increase the number of registered businesses and implement the Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2021, which could net Sh2 billion.
