E-Municipality Initiative Launched in Jounieh

With assistance from USAID, SUNY/CLD and Jounieh Municipality marked the official launching of the E-Municipality initiative in a ceremony at the Jounieh Municipal building on April 24, 2008.

Attended by the ranking U.S. official in Lebanon Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Michele J. Sison as well as USAID Program Management Specialist and Chief Accountant Lena Jammal , the event included a brief introduction by Jounieh Mayor Juan Hobeish, an overview of the assistance program and E-Municipality component by SUNY/CLD Director Mahmoud Batlouni, and a demonstration from the municipal website of the citizen access facility.

Kesrouane District Manager Raymond Hitti welcomed Chargé d’Affaires Sison who spoke about USAID assistance in Lebanon and the critical support to local government being provided under the Municipal Government Assistance Program.

Organized under a four-year grant from USAID as part of comprehensive efforts to support good governance, the introduction of an E-Municipality component is designed to encourage greater transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness in providing services and information to constituents.


Citizens in Jounieh can now track online - by accessing the municipal website created as part of the program – the status of their municipal tax records that includes detailed historical tax payments as well as current obligations and additional information such as due dates and penalty grace periods. Tax payers can create their own user accounts and passwords on Jounieh's website to ensure confidentiality of tax records.

Slated for implementation in five large municipalities, the citizen component of E-Municipality complements the internal administrative systems that allow citizens to track online the status of any applications using a designated user name and password received at the time of submission.

Development of this essential electronic infrastructure and the implementation of E-Municipality citizen services are establishing the necessary base for future online payment of municipal taxes.

Jounieh has emerged as a progressive, efficient institution with an increasingly sound financial base as a result of USAID assistance that encompassed training for officials and employees, implementation of standardized procedures and advanced technical applications including a Municipal Geographic Information System, organization of a modern Citizen Reception Office, development of an interactive website, and creation of citizen publications. Municipal revenues have increased significantly as a result of the assistance with directly collected taxes and fees rising from $1.44 million in 2002 to nearly $2.38 million in 2006, a cumulative increase of 65%.

USAID and SUNY/CLD efforts to enhance the quality of services offered to citizens and widen public access to information through the introduction of E-Municipality services is an important step towards development of institutional capacities that will allow broad e-government activities to be implemented.