A novelty property tax collection system being initiated by the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in some three metropolitan and district assemblies in the Northern Region will cost about a million dollars.
The Chief Executive Officer of SADA, Mr. Charles Abugre who disclosed this on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday explained that the amount is modest looking at the inputs involved adding that the project which will be launched in April 2017 will help double the revenue generated by the assemblies in question.
The novel Property Tax Collection System will be used by the Tamale, Buipe and Sangnerigu assemblie to mobilise levies and other fees from landed property owners in the area.
According Mr. Abugre, SADA will invest about $500,000 into the project while the three assemblies will provide the rest of the funding.
“Our cost is in the technical expertise for developing the project and secondly in the course of collecting the data which is the drone flights and satellite imagery among others. I think all of that on our side will cost about half a million dollars. It is really quite cheap. When it is all finished, when you add up all the district assemblies and all their inputs and time to get it up and running in the way it is in the specification, it will be not more than a million dollars. This is a really cheap investment. If you find out how much it cost to even do the collection of the data under LAP 1 that the World Bank and other paid for, you will find that this is a very modest investment,” he clarified.
The property tax system developed by SADA in collaboration with other institutions is said to be the outcome of a database collection process that began in 2017 and resulted in the registration of all landed properties in the jurisdictions of the three assemblies.
Mr. Abugre further observed that the project if replicated in areas will help district assemblies attain financial independence.
“If you do this in Takoradi, Accra, and in the main towns, you will realize that these districts do not need to be part of the district assemblies’ common fund, they have enough funds they are not collecting, and they should collect it,” the SADA CEO added.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)