Local Revenue Management and Service Delivery in Local Governments: A Case of Mbale City

Abstract

The study examined the effect of local revenue management on service delivery in Mbale City. Its objectives included; examine the effect of revenue planning and budgeting on service delivery in Mbale City, examine the effect of revenue assessment on service delivery in Mbale City, examine the effect of revenue control on service delivery in Mbale City. The study adopted a cross sectional and correlation survey design complemented with a qualitative and quantitative approach. The study population was 176 and 122 formed the sample size selected using the purposive and simple random sampling. Information was elicited using questionnaire, interview and documentary review checklist. A response rate of 100% was obtained as recommended by Amin (2005). Key findings suggested a positive significant relationship between revenue planning (.530**), Revenue assessment (.342**) and revenue control (.472**) on service delivery. The study concluded that untimely revenue enhancement planning and fewer local revenue sources negatively affects revenue management however, fair tax assessment and timely deployment of tax enforcement team improve revenue collection. On the issue of implementation of revenue enhancement plans, it is concluded that local community had less knowledge about revenue management and needed sensitization; de-motivated TC staffs underperformed assignments and recruitment at the City was influenced. Further to note, revenue controls gaps negatively affect service delivery while misallocation of funds was common and quarterly audits and review reports were delayed. The following were recommendations made namely conduct more on the job trainings; provide logistical support to the revenue assessment team; budget and clearly identify un tapped revenue sources; conduct more community dialogue meetings and the need for a more autonomous hiring process. In addition, engaging more actors in budget revenue meetings or conferences; avoid late submission of reports and benchmarking.