The government will be focusing on guaranteeing that Neighbourhood Democratic Councils’ revenue bases are adequate to allow for financial independence and general autonomy in the management of their affairs.
Addressing a recent capacity building workshop for municipalities, Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan revealed that this is a critical component in the administration’s agenda to decentralise democratic engagement as it commits to advancing the process of capacity building in its municipalities.
A Government Information Agency (GINA) release related that the Ministry of Communities will be concentrating on upgrading the councils’ main system of revenue collection – the proceeds from rates that are payable by property owners within the various districts. Bulkan noted that the present method of collecting and adjudging rates dates back to 1996 and this has resulted in councils not being able to garner sufficient revenue because property values had increased manifold since then.
Bulkan said that the present administration is committed to a process that boosts the financial capacity of its councils, allowing them to operate independently and autonomously, as opposed to a framework that sees the local organs dependent on the central government for subvention thereby making them subject to its dictates and manipulations.
