General Badi led Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) is set to launch a new property valuation system that is set to determine land rates in Nairobi County.
In a project set to be rolled out between the current and the next financial year, NMS states that the new geographical information system-based mass valuation will be used to value properties based on market value and rates.
The Sh160 million project is contained in the County Annual Development Plan for 2020/2021. It is expected that the expansion will increase the number of properties in the supplementary valuation roll by 5,000.
A total of 24,780 properties have been added to rating database since 2013 taking the tally to 156,000 in the proposed 2019 valuation roll.
“During the 2019/20, the department of valuations and property management was able to complete the development of the county’s GIS-based mass valuation roll which will be implemented from the FY 2020/2021. The department aims at implementing the new roll, and improving the utility value of City Hall Annex by repairing the plumbing works, electrical and tarmacking the two basement floors parking areas,” reads the plan by County Finance and Economic Planning Executive Allan Igambi.
So far, The new valuation roll draft has been submitted to the Nairobi County Assembly for approval. City Hall has been working on a new valuation roll since 2016 to update a 1980 list that has never been touched.
Earlier this year, the Commission on Revenue Allocation report revealed that City Hall has been losing about Sh188 billion in uncollected land rates every financial year.
Last year, for instance, Governor Sonko‘s county government collected Sh1.9 billion in land rates against a target of Sh3.9 billion for the financial year ending June 30.
