2023 Fee Fixing Resolution Meeting

Following the review of the 2022 Fee Fixing Resolution of the Central Tongu District Assembly in pursuant to sections 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163 of the Local Governance Act, Act 936 of 2016 which mandates the District Assembly to charge fees and licenses and upon the release of the Fee Fixing guidelines by the Minister for Local Government Decentralization and Rural Development, the District Assembly has reviewed the 2022 Fee Fixing Resolution for implementation in 2023.

The Assembly invited stakeholders from the business community within the District. These stakeholders were, market women, transport unions, opinion leaders, business owners etc. to make input into the reviewed document. The attendance was very encouraging and participation was top notch.

WELCOME ADDRESS

The District Coordinating Director, Mr. Gabriel Adjargo welcomed everyone to the meeting and expressed his appreciation for the response of the participants to the gathering. He stated the importance of the meeting and encouraged everyone to contribute to the success of the meeting.

He added that members could ask any questions bothering on the Fee Fixing for clarification and explanations. On that note, he invited the District Budget Analyst to lead the presentation.

PRESENTATION ON REVIEWED FEE FIXING DOCUMENT FOR 2023

The District Budget Analyst, Mr. Patrick Kwadwo Darko Mensah led the presentation on the 2023 Fee Fixing for the Assembly. He narrated the background to the changes in the rates for implementation. He cited the recent spikes in inflation and cedi to the dollar rate as major factors in determining the new rates in the Fee Fixing for 2023.

In the 2023 proposed fee for basic rate he noted that the rate was no longer GH¢1.00 but GH¢3.00 and there was development of levy of GH¢4.00 On fees, he mentioned that burial fee for adults of 18years and above was now GH¢100.00 and not GH¢50.00. He also mentioned that permit for burial at home which used to be GH¢1000.00 was now GH¢8,000.00. the reason he cited was that, burial at home was being discouraged and for that matter the Assembly needed to fix a discouraging fee to deter people from engaging in that practice.

Mr. Mensah intimated that most of the fees were not affected by the changes and for that matter there was not going to be much deliberation on them. He stated that those ones would be cited for the purposes of emphasis and clarifications for the consumption of the populace since most of the attendees were meeting for the first time on fee fixing resolution.

He mentioned that building permit application jacket fee was now GH¢150.00 instead of the previous GH¢60.00. In his defense, he said that the cost of procurement for those materials had quadrupled and the Assembly needed to raise the fee to meet the current market trends.

On the same permit, it was mentioned that rates for processing fee had been massively affected due to the rigorous processes the technical committee and the Spatial Planning Committee go through. This is to help maintain the cost of the committee meetings and field trips.

In concluding his presentation, the District Budget Analyst informed the gathering that this was an annual exercise which would be repeated in 2023 towards the preparation of the 2024 Fee Fixing Resolution of the Assembly.

OPEN DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS

The floor was opened for questions and contributions and question were centered on home burial and tomb stone. The gathering wanted to know whether burial at community cemetery would attract burial fee and the District Budget Analyst answered by saying that all burial within the District was subject to permit by the Assembly and for that matter every burial attracted a burial fee.

On the issue of tomb stone he referred the house to the fee fixing document and stated that all such descriptions had been clearly defined in the Fee Fixing guideline for the Assembly’s implementation. .After a lengthy discussion, the participants expressed their satisfaction of the meeting and the explanations given to the questions that had lingered on for a very long time.

The District Coordinating Director thanked everyone for their participation and contribution towards the meeting and prayed the gathering to continuously honour the Assembly’s invitation to future engagements.