Migori,
Thursday, March 14, 2024
KNA by Geoffrey Makokha
The Chairperson of the Migori County Revenue Authority Board Tom Kasera has said that the County’s Ordinary Own Source Revenue (OSR) has increased after sealing some of the revenue leakages.
Kasera said that the revenue has improved since the start of August 2023 giving hope that the set quarterly targets would be met and surpassed.In the first quarter of Financial Year (FY) 2023/24, the County generated a total of Sh91.28 million from its sources of revenue, inclusive of Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) and Appropriations in Aid (AIA), representing a 15.2 percent of the annual Own Source Revenue target.
Kasera said that the Own Source Revenue was way better than the previous financial years arising from the fact that the Authority has been trying to stop the revenue leakages that included non-remittal, tax evasion, low remittals, and corruption from County revenue officials.In the first quarter 2023/24 Financial Year, Sh91.28 million represented an increase of 29.8 per cent compared to Sh.70.32 million realised in the 2022/23 Financial Year.
However, the 2022/2023 Financial Year saw a 1.6 percent decrease from the 2021/2022 FY where the Own Sources of Revenue generated was Sh84.27 million.The County officials attributed the revenue leakages to the usage of the manual system disclosing that only 20 to 30 percent is remitted by the County Revenue Fund (CRF).Kasera affirmed that the County was in the process of working towards 100 percent automation that would help to seal any revenue leakages in the future.
“The procurement process is going on to secure 100 percent automation and enable the county to go cashless in its Sources of Revenue collection to boost our Annual Budget Allocation which currently stands at Sh349,550,000 for the 2023/24 Financial Year,” said Kasera.
He also confirmed that the County was working on tax revenue policy and reforms, enhancing enforcement and compliance, and capacity-building staff training to enable them to collect their Sources of Revenue efficiently and effectively.
So far, the highest revenue stream from the Own Source Revenue has been from Facility Improvement Fund-Health facilities that have contributed over 35 percent of the total Own Source Revenue for the past three financial years.
Kasera called upon all the County residents to continue paying their taxes and comply with revenue officials to enable them to get better services and steer the social economy growth of the Municipalities, towns, and the County urban markets.
Courtesy; KNA
