Local government revenue mobilisation: assessing property rate management potential of peri-urban districts using geospatial technologies

Property rate is widely considered as the most significant and stable revenue source for local governments. However, it is fraught with challenges. These include the lack of geo-data on rateable properties and the manual approach towards revenue collection and monitoring. A mixed method approach was adopted to gather and analyse data from 15 local government officials and 5000 properties using interview guides and semi-structured questionnaires to assess the property rate capacity of a local government. Geospatial technology was applied to property rate management of the local government as a possible alternative. The study revealed that the geospatial technology-based property rate management system has the potential to generate more than 1000% of the property rate generated. It is proffered that local governments implement a GIS-based property rate management system to generate the needed revenue for local development.