Cadastral survey and property tax development

Final PES covers the period 10/78-12/80 and is based on discussions with the implementing agency, the Rural Property Tax Office (RPTO) and USAID/P personnel Although delays in procuring commodities and in negotiating an aerial photography contract and RTPO"s slackness in making administrative improvements have placed the project 3 years behind schedule, good progress has been made towards end-of-project status. A total of 190,661 urban and 132,028 rural properties have been surveyed (with identification of land improvements an unexpected boon) and 116,207 urban and 48,030 rural properties added to the tax base. An electronic IBM billing system has been installed, but lack of trained personnel is hindering its full employment. The terminal disbursement date has been extended to 9/81 to provide technical assistance in this area. A major need is for a cost-benefit study to determine whether $35,000 should be spent on equipment needed to allow loan-financed NCR teller machines to operate on-line with the IBM system. Although RTPO has opened only 8 of 14 targeted field offices and 5 of 14 targeted maintenance offices, these are functioning satisfactorily; tax collection during 1980 was up 27.5% over 1979 and guidelines from a central maintenance office that was opened in Asuncion were instrumental in updating the cadastral records of 96,344 properties. RPTO has made no attempt to increase the number of tax collection officers -- who have proven efficient in collecting back taxes -- from five to 10. No new laws to maintain cadastral and tax records were needed, although existing laws are not fully enforced in rural areas. At the goal level, total real estate tax collections in the past 5 years increased 122%, far exceeding the target, and substantial data were developed on land distribution, tenure, and use. A lesson learned is that USAID/P should monitor closely the progress of projects managed by technical advisors through frequent contacts with the implementing agency, site inspections, end use checks, and a more informative and comprehensive reporting system.