Lukwago, KCCA technical team clash over property rate

The controversy over the proposed 6% property rate by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) shows no signs of abating after the Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and the authority's technical wing failed to reach an agreement.

Yesterday during a council meeting, Lukwago proposed some changes which were not embraced by the technical wing led by the KCCA's acting executive director Andrew Kitaka.

Lukwago proposed that property owners whose property is valued five million shillings and below should be exempted while those with property worth six to twenty million Uganda Shillings should pay 3% and those above twenty millions pay 6%.

In his response to the lord mayor, the acting KCCA executive director Andrew Kitaka told the council that they should leave the evaluation court to do its work.

He said the property rate being the only source of income that is reliable and expected to fund the authority should stay the 6%.

He also pointed out that since the budget has already been passed, the proposed changes will antagonise their planning.

Lukwago however retaliated that changes to the budget are possible and parliament can do that.

In a report, the committee that was tasked to gather information about property rates recommended that arrears that date back between 2005 and 2016 should be exempted and the evaluation court given an extension of one month to finalise its work in the five different divisions.

Since the president halted the 120,000/- that Kampala Capital City Authority levied from tax drivers, revenue collected by KCCA has dwindled.