Event marks recent achievements in Beirut Municipality related to improved citizen services, greater access to municipal information, and enhanced administrative practices

Under the auspices of the Minister of Interior and Municipalities HE Ziad Baroud, Beirut Municipality marked the official opening of the Citizen Reception Office in the Financial Department and the implementation of the Municipal GIS in a ceremony held January 29, 2009 in the Office of the Governor of Beirut. The event also marked the completion of Phase I of the modernization of the medical assistance reimbursement process and the introduction of online citizen access to municipal tax records.

Prominent attendees at the event included Minister of Interior and Municipalities HE Ziad Baroud, Minister of Administrative Reforms HE Ibrahim Shamseddine, and USAID Mission Director for Lebanon Denise A. Herbol.

Acting Beirut Governor HE Nassif Kalloush in his opening remarks expressed his appreciation to USAID and the Center for the support that has enabled Beirut to achieve notable successes at the administrative, financial, and technical levels despite the difficult circumstances in Lebanon and the large number of vacancies in key departments. He noted that direct revenues in Beirut Municipality increased from approximately $53.3 million in 2005 to more than $93.0 million in 2008 representing a cumulative increase of more than 62% and contributing to a surplus of more than $300 million to be allocated by the council to much-needed infrastructure projects.
USAID/Lebanon Mission Director Herbol recognized the Municipality both for its willingness to modernize citizen services and its commitment to transparent procedures, adding that Beirut is a "pioneer in implementing projects that positively impact the lives of citizens."

Minister Baroud spoke of the significance of the achievements highlighting in particular the Citizen Reception Office that he considers essential to all government offices as part of the administration's responsibilities. He further stressed that the overall achievements in Beirut are enabling the Municipality to fight corruption, increase revenues and budget surpluses, and better serve its citizens.

Beirut Municipal President Abdel Mounim Ariss in his remarks noted that prior to assistance the Municipality carried debt of approximately $6 million that has been repaid with surplus revenues now being recorded. He directly attributed the improved financial position to the modernization and organization of processes and procedures and to the use of sound managerial practices.

Regional Director for SUNY/CLD Mahmoud Batlouni noted that as a result of USAID assistance municipalities in Lebanon had advanced on the administrative and financial levels and - given their understanding of the demographic, social, and economic realities within their respective regions - are now positioned to play a partnership role both with the central government in fulfilling mandates and with donors in the process of local development.

Several presentations were given by experts from SUNY/CLD detailing the importance of the most recent activities with demonstrations provided of the online citizen access to tax records and the Municipal GIS.

Citizen Reception Offices - modern customer service facilities organized to streamline and standardize the processing of citizen transactions - serve as the institutional base that allows E-municipality citizen services to be introduced through interactive websites.
Citizens in Beirut can now access – through the website for the Municipality - their municipal tax records that include detailed historical tax payments, current obligations, and additional information such as due dates and penalty grace periods. Taxpayers can create a user account and password to ensure confidentiality of tax records, and send comments, suggestions, or complaints directly to municipal officials from the site.

Related efforts involve the implementation in Beirut Municipality of the Municipal GIS (MGIS), a powerful tool that supports enhanced taxation, inspection, and auditing capacities ultimately enabling revenues to be expanded. Allowing officials to better promote transparency in the assessment and collection of taxes, the MGIS can also be used by the municipal council to support planning activities related to numerous areas of concern including infrastructure, economic development, and the environment.

In Beirut use of the MGIS will significantly enhance municipal capacities with respect to construction services such as the review and issuance of building and reconstruction permits, a major activity for the Municipality. Significantly, use of the MGIS will enable the Municipality to maintain - through the process of continual updates - consistency between the various 'layers' of municipal data associated with the physical infrastructure and the actual reality, a consistency that is a prerequisite to effective urban planning.

Other achievements noted during the ceremony included the completion of the first phase of a project to modernize the medical assistance reimbursement process for the nearly 12,000 qualified individuals including current and former employees and their dependents. Prior to this assistance the Municipality was receiving medical claims from nearly 30,000 individuals. This project encompassed restructuring of work procedures, alignment of procedures between the Health Benefits' and Financial Departments, identification of qualified beneficiaries and issuance of health cards, and automation of routine medical assistance formalities.