Agona West Municipal Assembly laments over snail pace property rate collection by GRA

At its 1st Ordinary Meeting of the 4th Session of the 8th Assembly held at Agona Swedru last Thursday, Members of the Agona West Municipal Assembly bemoaned the snail pace at which management of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) was collecting property rates for the Assembly.

According to the Assembly Members, the collection of property rate was the lifeline of the Assembly till it was taken over by the Ghana Revenue Authority.

They added that the takeover has adversely affected the financial strength of the Assembly immensely.

Presiding Member for Agona West Municipal Assembly, Hon. Frank Yeboah who led the discussion of the Assembly's financial situation noted with concern the abysmal performance of GRA describing it as woefully inadequate and a lazy way of collecting revenue.

He wonder why the major point of revenue collection for the Assembly could be taken away at a time the Assembly was struggling to meet its revenue target.

"The are many towns and villages in the Agona West Municipality, why should collect property rate in Agona Swedru only, don't we have properties in Agona Nyakrom, Upper and Lower Bobikuma, Abodom, Nkum, Otsenkorang, Otapiro and others place which could fetch the Assembly some Revenue?"

In his sessional address, the Agona West Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Evans Addison Coleman disclosed that the Assembly gets its revenue mainly from Internally Generated Fund (IGF) and the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).

It also receives support from donor-funded programmes such as Modernized Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) and Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme (GSCSP).

He noted that the Assembly as of the end of May, 2023 was able to collect a total amount of Ghc750,280.47 out of an estimated annual budget of Ghc2,358,045.00. He added that management was committed to ensuring that the Assembly meet its revenue target by the end of the year.

The Municipal Chief Executive further stated that during the year under review, the Assembly received an amount of Ghc232,250.94 as its share of the District Assembly Common Fund for the 4th quarter of 2022 indicating that the amount had been expended on various projects and programmes.

On development projects, Hon. Evans Addison Coleman mentioned the construction of 1 No. 40 seater open market stalls at Lower Bobikuma, the construction of 1 No.3 bedrooms apartment for medical doctors at Agona Swedru and the completion of the Municipal Assembly office complex also at Agona Swedru.

Stressing the need for smooth transportation of goods and services, the Municipal Chief Executive stated various road projects over the period such as the completion of bituminous surfacing of Falcon and Eduful streets. The bituminous surfacing of Greenland (phase 1& 2) streets both in Agona Swedru.

According to him, the procurement process for UDG 3 projects of the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme has been initiated. He hinted that the Assembly intend to construct a 3-Storey 60 no. lockable shops at Mandela Market and also construct the Otabilkrom road with double seal bituminous surfacing.

"These two projects are aimed at improving the local economic development of the Municipality. The year under review also saw the Assembly supporting the vulnerable in the Municipality through the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development.

"We supported 59 Persons With Disability (PWDs) with a total amount of Ghc 66,700.00 to either start a new trade or expand existing trade as well as educational support.

"A total of Ghc 54,898.00 of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) grant was disbursed to 703 households comprising 2,229 beneficiaries. The National Health Insurance Cards for 123 visually impaired persons and vulnerable children, as well as 50 LEAP beneficiaries, had their health insurance cards renewed," the MCE stated.

The Municipal Chief Executive also touched on other sectors such as security, Agriculture, Water and Sanitation, Education, Health and Governance noting that a sub-office of the Assembly has been established at Agona Nyakrom to bring local governance closer to residents and also reduce the cost of transportation people who wants to reach the Central Administration at Agona Swedru to access services

"Staff of the various departments of the Assembly have been posted to the sub-office to sensitize the people about the work and activities of the Assembly in the need for them to honour their tax obligation," Hon. Evans Addison Coleman concluded.