Delta introduces property tax in urban areas to boost revenue

                                                                             Delta State Gov. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa

Delta State Government said it is set to introduce property tax in urban areas of the state as part of measures aimed at boosting its revenue base.

This was part of decisions  arrived at during the seventh virtual Executive Council (EXCO) meeting presided over by the state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

In his briefing, the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu said that the state government would embark on enumeration exercise with a view to determining properties that would attract tax.

Aniagwu explained that tax income that would be generated from the property tax would support the state government to execute projects in the state.

He listed a number of road projects approved to be executed in the state in its determination to deepen the Stronger Delta Agenda of the state government to include Okwatata Street in Uvwie and its adjoining streets, Aliohen Road, Ute-Okpu in Ika North East Local Government, and remedial works on Udu Bridge in Udu Local Government Area of the state.

The Commissioner added that approval was also given for the construction of Okwatata Street in Uvwie which, also, has adjoining streets to be constructed by the Warri/Uvwie/Environs Development Agency, the construction of Aliohen Road, Ute-Opku community in Ika North East Local Government Area which would link a number of communities in the area.

According to the Commissioner the state government is to access an N10 billion naira credit facilities from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for agricultural productivity which would attract a single-digit interest rate.

Aniagwu said that the repayment of the CBN facility would be handled by the state government and two private sector investors, while the state government requires 2,507 hectares of land to go into a large scale cassava production.

He disclosed that 1,007 hectares of land have been acquired, but a wide expanse of land is required for the project expected to be established close to Oghara in Ethiope West

and Abraka in Ethiope East Local Government Areas of the state.

The state government is to collaborate with the federal government, he said, in the execution of water projects in the three senatorial districts under the P-WASH programme where it (the state government) would provide the sum of N295 million as its counterpart fund.