Siaya assembly speaker George Okode has signed the Emergency Fund Bill, 2020 and Siaya County Tax Waivers Administration Bill, 2020.
The two bills were passed by the assembly during its plenary session on Tuesday and forwarded to Governor Cornel Rasanga.
The Emergency Fund Bill creates a kitty that the county can use for urgent needs and during calamities like floods and pandemics.
The Bill provides for circumstances under which the county Finance CEC may make payments from the fund.
Public interest, damage, loss, hardship or suffering to residents and threats to the environment are some grounds for the expenditure of the fund.
The Siaya County Tax Waivers Administration Bill 2020 shall give effect to Article 210 of the Constitution and Section 159 of the Public Finance Management Act 2012 regarding tax waivers.
The bill intends to ensure transparency in the administration of taxes and other revenue and provide for the procedure and requirements applicable for tax waivers.
“There have been circumstances of emergencies and disasters within the county, which have always to a greater extent made it impossible for a section of the county residents to pay taxes and fees as required of them without the bill,” Okode said.
The speaker added that cases like Covid-19 pandemic and floods that have hugely affected economic activities within the county will be addressed in the Emergency Bill when approved by the governor.
The speaker said to address such issues the bill provides a legal framework for the regulation and administration of tax waivers.