The Osun State government has presented a Land Use Charge bill to the state House of Assembly for passage into law.

The Osun State Deputy Governor, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, on Tuesday during a public hearing session organised by the House of Assembly on the bill said that the state government decided to introduce the law to make property owners pay certain amount of levy on their property.

The deputy governor said the state needed to look inwards to boost its Internally Generated Revenue to augment its federal allocation.

“Oil price has been hovering at around 40 dollars per barrel for quite a while now. People are not buying oil again despite that we are approaching winter when the price is supposed to be high but the price is still low.

“Apart from the land use charge, taxation is another one. Tax is what we use to transform the state,” she said.

Mrs Tomori added that the state government was also trying to generate more revenue for its development through mineral resources and tourist sites in the state, stressing that the purpose for organising the public hearing was to give the people of the state the opportunity to have inputs into the law-making process.

While speaking, the representative of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Dr Bioye Tajudeen, said the proposed law was good but the government should consider the high level of poverty in the state.

Tajudeen said: “The Land Use Charge Bill proposes formula to determine the annual charge rate. We, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Osun State, however, recommend the use of valuation list to determine the annual charge rate."

He said places of worship should be exempted from paying the rates but schools and other business interests owned by religious organisations should be made to pay rates.