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Motorists in Mombasa will have to pay higher parking fees if proposals contained in the 2019/20 Finance Bill are passed.

The county proposes to increase daily parking fees by 100 per cent. Owners of saloon cars will pay Sh200 up from Sh100 per day. Lorries weighing between five and 10 tonnes will pay Sh1,000 up from Sh500.

Those with reserved parking will pay an annual fee of Sh75,000 for saloon cars, Sh100,000 for vehicles weighing three tonnes and above while buses and lorries will pay Sh150,000. Owners of semi-trailers and tractors will part with Sh200,000 annually.

Vehicle owners have opposed the proposals, saying there is no justification for increasing parking fees.

Also hit hard are miraa and muguka dealers, who have to pay Sh350 per box or sack of the commodity brought to the market. The changes come amid threats by the county Assembly to ban sale of the stimulants.

Residents have also expressed discontent with plans to raise grave fees from Sh25,000 to Sh30,000 for permanent ones and Sh30,000 for exhumation.

Those who want to keep animals in the city with pay Sh1,000 for a cow, Sh200 per goat. 

Impounding fees and storage charges for impounded items have been raised from Sh400 to Sh500 shillings.

“When formulating these revenues proposals, they don’t involve the stakeholders, they bring them as an emergency when passing the bill.

We barely have the time to go through these proposals but from what we have seen some of these taxes are very high, clashing with the needs and incomes of the public.

This bill needs to be formulated afresh and we need to be properly involved,” said Tsui Baya, a Shanzu resident.

The bill also proposes to increase advertising charges on city clocks from Sh60,000 to Sh70,000 while the sky signs fees have shot up from Sh10,000 to Sh250,000.

“Clients don’t want to advertise in Mombasa because the charges are too high,” said Jabess Mudhai, the chief executive of Visions Advertising Limited.

The proposals have caused an uproar among residents, who accuse the county government of playing deaf to the harsh economic times facing them in the wake of a “dying economy”, following a directive to haul all upcountry-bound cargo through SGR to the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi.

Mashinani Women Network Caroline Oduor said it is sad that the county was increasing taxes at a time when residents are facing harsh economic times.

Mkoroshoni community policing group youth leader Cornelius Fondo said the levies imposed on small business were extremely high and would force many traders to close shop. 

However, county Finance Executive Maryam Mbaruk defended the proposed levies, saying rates for various services had not been increased. She added that the county had not raised the levies for three years.

“We have been very considerate and we have maintained the same levies for many of the services,” she said.