SMA introduces digitize revenue collection to check leakages

The Sunyani Municipal Assembly (SMA) is to digitize its revenue collection systems to improve on the Internally Generated Funds (IGF) of the Assembly.

This technological move, according to the city authorities, would go a long way to check revenue leakages to pave the way for the Assembly to meet its revenue collection targets.

Addressing the second ordinary meeting of the Assembly on Wednesday in Sunyani, Mrs. Evelyn Ama Kumi-Richardson, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), expressed concern over anomalies recorded in the Assembly’s revenue drive and said the new digitized system would take effect from 2019.

It is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) electronic revenue collection system that would use Point of Sale (PoS) devices, she said, adding, an establishment of enhanced Revenue Mobilisation System (eRMS) would create a base map to cover areas of revenue point in the Municipality.

The new digitized system of tax collection would give comprehensive report, detail statistics, track revenue agents, and increase efficiency by providing information about areas that have paid their revenues or not, the MCE stated.

Mrs Kumi-Richardson said tax evasion was a serious offence and advised defaulters to settle their indebtedness and all tax-payers to honour their tax obligations for the Assembly to generate the required revenue needed for development.

She explained that the digital revenue mobilisation drive would serve as a way of monitoring revenue collectors in the field to assist data collection of households and property rates.

The MCE emphasised that the idea would “facilitate right collection of market tolls as well as ensuring distribution of demand bills and certify the basis of any rate due the Assembly to improve its IGF”.

Mrs Kumi-Richardson announced the Assembly raked in GH¢1,170,084.82 revenue in mid-year, representation of 49.56 percent of the annual projected amount of GH¢2,360,913.87 for 2018.

She said the money had been channelled into construction of several physical infrastructural developments, mostly in the areas of education and health.

Source: GNA