Local authorities unveiled their budgets for the 2008/2009 financial year on Thursday.

The Nairobi City Council released a budget estimate of Sh9.5 billion for the financial year. Some Sh720 million will be used for the construction and repair of 16 roads in the estates.

The money will also be used to rehabilitate schools and educational facilities (Sh104 million), street lighting (Sh71 million), rehabilitate health centres (Sh37 million), poverty reduction (Sh15 million) and rehabilitate social halls (Sh24 million).

The council's finance committee chairman, Mr Mutunga Mutungi, said the Sh9.5 billion would be raised from the council's resources and central Government transfers of Sh4.7 billion and Sh3 billion respectively.

The budget has a deficit of Sh1.8 billion to be met through revenue from informal markets, rates, house rents, Muthurwa market, car park fees, building plans and billboards.

Present during the presentation at Charter Hall were Deputy Prime minister and Local Government minister Musalia Mudavadi, assistant minister Margaret Wanjiru, Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu and Local Government PS Sammy Kirui.

Mr Mutunga said their biggest challenge was the huge debt portfolio which stood at Sh9.36 billion by last month.

The council's main sources of revenue, Cllr Mutungi said, would be from property, land and area rates (Sh1.8 billion), single business permits (Sh0.5 billion), markets and slaughterhouse fees (Sh200 million), car parking receipts (Sh600 million) and other levies (Sh1.6 billion).

More than Sh2 billion in recurrent and development expenditure is to be spent by Mombasa council in 2008/2009 financial year.

The bulk of the funds will go towards paying workers' salaries and councillors' allowances, according to budget estimates presented by the chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee, Major Gharib Suleiman. He said the salaries and allowances will take a Sh856,548,481 compared to Sh796, 873,591 last year.

For the first time, Mr Gharib presented a surplus budget, announcing that the council expected to raise Sh2,026,902,115 against an expenditure of Sh2,024,883,001. Road projects in the town will take Sh319,524,177 while the Local Authority Development Action Plan (Lasdap) will take Sh71,964,000. The council will spend Sh40 million on other projects.

At the Nakuru Municipal Council, Finance committee chair, Ms Rispa Auma announced that the council incurred a loss of over Sh90 million due to the post-election crisis.

Ms Auma said debts amounted to Sh450 million. She said privatisation of some of the council's activities under ongoing reforms such as the water sector had affected revenue. She said the council was unable to sustain itself and generated Sh434.189,105 against expenditure of Sh603.648,630.

In Nyandarua, finance chairman Paul Njihia announced hefty salary increments for the 248 workers in his Sh188 million budget. Mr Njihia said that Sh900,000 deducted from former civic leaders last year as tax would be refunded. He said that Sh33 million would be spent on projects.

Meanwhile, the Nyeri Municipal Council will sell off its 18 rental houses to meet a deficit of Sh34 million in its budget. The chairman of the finance committee, Mr Patrick Kiago, said the houses, which are located within the Central Business District, will be sold alongside other obsolete stocks to bridge the gap.

Presenting the council's budget, Mr Kiago said the council's expenditure for the 2008/2009 financial year amounted to Sh228.4 million against a projected income of Sh194.2 million.