Municipal Revenue Generation Through Property Taxation: The Case Of Hargeisa, A Somali City
This report shows how advanced satellite and computer technology is used pragmatically to develop a property database that can be used for taxation and planning purposes. The database includes key property characteristics (e.g. building quality, infrastructure and number of occupants) and a photo of each property. The property database also includes spatial data, with each property located and georeferenced into a Geographic Information System (GIS). Data was collected through field surveys using hand-held computers. The result of the survey indicates that there are 59,000 properties in the city of Hargeisa and a total population in 2004 of almost 400,000 inhabitants. The total cost of the survey was US$0.82 per property and it is expected that the experiences gained will lead to a cost for the next property survey in Burao of US$0.68 per property.
