By Joseph Murangiri
The County Assembly of Meru has castigated the County Government of Meru for not meeting the target for own source revenue collection which has been on a downward trajectory for the last two years.
The report indicates that the County Executive has never collected above Sh550 Million from its own source revenue between the financial years 2014/15 and 2022/2023
The actual amount collected from own source revenue for the Financial Year 2022/2023 was Sh385 Million while the projected amount for the Financial Year 2024/2025 is Sh600 Million.
The report has indicated that the county treasury has not been able to meet its target of Sh600 Million highlighting the need for realistic targets on revenue collections in the upcoming Financial Year 2024/2025.
According to the report by the select committee on County budget and appropriations on Meru County budget review and outlook paper 2023, the revenue collection from parking fees and cess has been descending.
Revenue targets and projections for Kaguru Training Centre in south Imenti, have been largely unattainable over the years.
This is a need for the County Treasury to evaluate and set achievable targets for the facility based on the average of their collections in the previous financial years.
The report further expressed the need for the County treasury to put in place effective reporting mechanisms on the collection of Revenue to facilitate effective target setting.
The county Treasury spent 46 percent of its revenue to compensate employees, contrary to the provisions of section 107 (2) (b) of the Public Financial Management Act 2012, which obliges county governments to spend not, more than 35 percent of its annual revenues on wages and benefits to public officers.
