Targets & Initiatives for Revenue Mobilization
“Collecting local tax more efficiently means having resources with to deliver better services to the residents of Freetown. We are taking a multi-pronged approach to revenue mobilisation. Updating the data we hold on properties and businesses is key, as is moving towards an automated system and making the process more transparent and accountable. We have introduced initiatives that have positively impacted our collection rates and are optimistic about harnessing untapped potential such as street parking, cemeteries, property and other assets”
Festus Kallay, Chief Administrator, FCC
Target 1
Increase tax revenue fivefold from 7bn to 35bn Le by 2020
Initiative 1
Lead
Description
Establish an automated property rate and business license system (registries and tariffs) by
- Tailor-making system under ownership of FCC, incl. database for property and business registry and effective tariff structure
- Leveraging existing resources (e.g., mapping)
- Running pilot in selected Wards
- Securing funding and resources and roll-out
- Clearly setting out interfaces to other revenue streams and develop continuously
Initiative 2
Lead
Description
Optimize local tax by
- Clarifying and communicating purpose of local tax
- Enhancing the customer experience and facilitate the payment process of local tax
- Establishing external gateways and points-of-contact with tax payers, to ensure tax payers are often prompted with the opportunity to pay and required to produce evidence of payment
- Planning strategy for phased increases in local tax tariff
- Embedding local tax in compliance framework
Initiative 3
Lead
Description
Establish customer engagement and compliance framework, incl. introduction of external gateways and payment experience by
- Enhancing “customer experience” of tax payers
- Facilitating payment and introduce new payment options
- Anchoring and enforcing tax payment through external gateways, e.g., requirement of tax receipt for certain services
- Improving transparency in use of tax, incl. tangible examples, documentation and audit trail
- Creating tax platform that is integrated with other FCC services
Target 2
Increase non-tax revenue threefold from 2bn to 6bn Le by 2020
Initiative 1
Lead
Description
Optimise revenue from FCC assets (including markets and other licensing), by
- Creating a full asset register and baseline of bankable FCC assets
- Identifying and utilizing the key value potential and value propositions of existing asset base
- Defining a strategy to leverage and offer asset-based services
- Rolling-out and advertising asset-based services
- Clearly set out FCC’s legal mandate and scope to tax property development-related activities
- Identify key charges to be levied, incl. building permits and extension/upgrading of existing structures
- Establish an effective enforcement system that is linked to the compliance framework
“Freetown is exploring with development partners the possibility of a twinning partnership with other municipalities from developed countries to assure a better access to capital markets in order to finance the implementation of Transform Freetown. Such a twinning partnership will also enable knowledge exchange based on the expertise of the twinning municipalities. “
Yvonne Aki-Sanyerr, Mayor of Freetown