Berekum Assembly Seeks A Raise In Basic Rates

Berekum (Brong Ahafo Region), l, Oct. The Berekum District Assembly has recommended to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to increase basic rate from the present 200 cedis to 1,000 cedis. They contended that the present rate is so low that the cost of collecting it is greater than the revenue derived thus negating the purpose for which it was instituted. The recommendation was contained in a resolution proposed by a member, Mr S.K. Duodu, during the discussion of the address of the district chief executive, Mrs Mary Boakye, at the assembly's first ordinary meeting at Berekum yesterday. Mrs Boakye had expressed concern about the assembly's persistent failure to meet its revenue targets due, among other things, to the refusal of the people to pay taxes, especially basic rates. She said eight months into the year, the assembly had collected only 52 per cent of the 281.5 million cedis it is expected to collect from traditional sources. She appealed to the members to help rectify the situation by educating their people on the need to pay their taxes and also assist in supervising collectors to maximise revenue generation.