The LOKAL+ project, financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sought to help make communes (district-level governments) in Haiti more autonomous through effective decentralization. LOKAL+ (Limiyè ak Òganizasyon pou Kolektivite yo Ale Lwen Plus) ran from January 2013 to January 2018. It aimed to improve municipal services by tackling strategic planning, tax collection, finance and program management, and community awareness.
LOKAL+ included initiatives that should benefit communities beyond the life of the project:
- CIVITAX – a software program that facilitates tax collection for Haitian municipal staff;
- training for local government executives;
- increased tax revenue, which could help improve community services;
- promotion of increased transparency in local governance;
- support for lobbying efforts for legislation guaranteeing communes’ financial autonomy.
However, the project had some significant limitations:
- gender issues were little taken into account, but local regressive taxes, like the patent (business license tax), mainly affect female market sellers;
- Beneficiaries were not involved in project design;
- the central government delayed payment of municipal executive salaries;
- slow bureaucracy sometimes prevented projects from running to schedule;
- lack of oversight negatively affected financial management and transparency;
- Resources actually raised often fell short of highly ambitious tax collection plans. In some communes, only 30-40% of projected tax revenues were collected;
- a perception of corruption within the project itself.
In spite of efforts through LOKAL+ to help local governments smoothly manage resource raising, improve community services and develop support tools, the project was hampered by a stubbornly centralized system. Also, barriers to sustaining improved revenue collection include pervasive customs exemptions, contraband, tax evasion and corruption. The project helped communities become more active and aware of their role in local development via tax contributions. However, Oxfam’s research found that the project did not lead to a clear improvement in the services provided to taxpayers.
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July 08, 2021 at 02:25AM
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Empowering Local Governments? The LOKAL+ project in Haiti - Oxfam America
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