UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL COLLECTION PLANNING AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE PROJECT (PLGP) IN

MAY 2015 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Tetra Tech.

This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development by Tetra Tech, through USAID Contract Number AID-182-C-12-00001, Planning and Local Governance Project (PLGP) in Albania.

Author: Emiko Guthe, Geospatial Technologies Unit, Tetra Tech

This report was prepared by: Tetra Tech 159 Bank Street, Suite 300 Burlington, Vermont 05401 USA Telephone: (802) 495-0282 Fax: (802) 658-4247 E-Mail: [email protected]

Tetra Tech Contacts: Kevin McLaughlin, Senior Technical Advisor/Manager Tel: (802) 495-0282 Email: [email protected]

Don Cuizon, Project Manager Tel: (802) 495-0282 Email: [email protected]

UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION PLANNING AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE PROJECT (PLGP) IN ALBANIA

MAY 2015

DISCLAIMER

The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION i

CONTENTS

ACRONYMS ...... III EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 1 1.0 LEGAL FRAMEWORK...... 2 1.1 IPRO AND ALUIZNI ...... 2 1.2 TERRITORY REGISTER ...... 2 1.3 ANTICIPATED CHANGES TO SYSTEM ...... 2 2.0 APPROACH ...... 1 2.1 GIS PROCESS FOR MUNICIPAL TAXATION ...... 1 2.1.1 Start from Base Layers ...... 2 2.1.2 Address System ...... 3 2.1.3 Property Inventory ...... 3 2.1.4 Territory Register to Tax Register ...... 4 2.2 GUIDING PRINCIPLES ...... 4 2.3 GIS RESOURCES ...... 5 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 6 3.1 ...... 6 3.2 KORÇA ...... 6 3.3 ...... 7 3.4 MODEL MUNICIPALITIES (, , KUÇOVA, LUSHJNE) ...... 8 3.5 OTHER PARTNER LGUS (KAMZA, , SARANDA, VLORA, VORA) ...... 9 4.0 NEXT STEPS ...... 1

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION i

ACRONYMS

ALUIZNI Agency for Legalization of Urban Informal Zones and Buildings

ASIG State Authority for Geospatial Information

GIS Geographic Information System

GPS Global Positioning System

IMF International Monetary Fund

IPRO Immovable Property Registration Office

LGU Local Government Unit

PLGP Planning and Local Governance Project

TAR Territorial Administrative Reform

USAID United States Agency for International Development

WMS Web Map Service

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Property tax is an important, stable source of revenue for Albanian municipal governments, but current systems for tax collection and administration are in need of improvement. This report explores how geographic information systems (GIS) can be utilized to assist municipalities to increase the scale and effectiveness of their own-source revenues. Based on findings from a two- week assessment, these recommendations provide feasible, practical steps that will enable municipalities to operationalize GIS tools to facilitate property tax collection and administration through the construction of a functional tax register. Utilizing GIS tools to create a functional tax register will provide municipalities with a critical first step in the tax cycle; enabling each municipality to invoice its tax base. Property tax is based upon geographic features that exist on the earth’s surface—buildings, parcels, agricultural land, etc.—and thus can be mapped in a GIS. Using GIS for property tax purposes allows municipalities to collect data about what exists on the ground, manage spatially referenced data in a database and then utilize this information for analysis, reporting, transparency and decision making. In order to increase revenue from property , municipalities in Albania must first build a complete tax register, or property register, to understand who taxpayers are and where they are located. Essential in this process is the need to create an actionable addressing system. Korça and Fier have both utilized GIS tools to create a property inventory and their experiences provide valuable lessons learned and best practices for other municipalities. Each of PLGP’s partner municipalities will need to complete a comprehensive tax inventory for new municipal areas mandated by the Law on Territorial Administrative Reform, which restructured and consolidated local governments resulting in much larger territories for partner municipalities. Recommendations on property tax in Albania must address the question of central datasets. While Immovable Property Registration Office (IPRO) data officially comprises the property tax database, it is often not a useful or actionable dataset for most partner municipalities. IPRO data, and other central datasets, are discussed in subsequent sections of this report (1.1 and 2.1.1). Though the goal of any property tax register should eventually integrate IPRO data, the recommendations in this report focus on short term actions to create a functional municipal tax register utilizing GIS tools. This report consists of four main sections. Section 1.0 examines the legal framework for property tax in Albania from a GIS perspective. Section 2.0 draws upon the experiences of Fier and Korça to provide an overview of how GIS tools can be utilized to establish a functional municipal tax register. Section 3.0 provides recommendations for municipalities by evaluating their current status and recommending next steps. Section 4.0 gives general next steps for completing this work.

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 1 1.0 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

1.1 IPRO AND ALUIZNI The current legal framework for property taxation in Albania is comprised of two official data sources: Immovable Property Registration Office (IPRO) and ALUIZNI. As detailed in other reports, the current law taxes buildings and agricultural land, but not urban land. Businesses and residential properties have different tax rates, which are quite low for family taxpayers. ALUIZNI is the legalization and formalization process for informal buildings that have cropped up across the Albanian landscape. Scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017, the ALUIZNI process will legalize an estimate half million buildings while other structures are being and will be destroyed. IPRO is the official source for property tax in Albania. Properties legalized through the ALUIZNI process will be incorporated into IPRO data. IPRO has been working for over a decade to create an electronic legal property register and database, which is an essential tool for property tax administration. However, several issues keep IPRO data from serving as a functional tool for most municipalities. From various meetings throughout the assessment, IPRO data has been determined to be incomplete, out-of-date, and not accessible to those outside of IPRO. Though IPRO is required by law to hand over data to municipalities, this transfer does not happen in a functional manner. Municipalities either do not have any IPRO data or receive the data in a format that is not operational for municipal governments. As other reports have also determined, at this time, IPRO data is not a functional tool for most municipalities due to both data quality and communication shortfalls.

1.2 TERRITORY REGISTER The Law on Territorial Planning and Development mandates an “integrated territory register” which provides, “Registration of the physical and legal information, and of the public and private rights or restrictions to land and the transformation it undergoes because of development” (Chapter V, Article 54). The territory register consists of “GIS databases [that] shall be managed by the planning authorities and the other public institutions, at the national and local level, in line with the responsibilities determined by this Law and the effective legislation” (Chapter V, Article 55). In Korça, the territory register is managed by the municipal urban planning office. The territory register consists of the spatial aspects of a taxpayer register. The territory register in Korça involves information about buildings, parcels and ownership, all of which are essential for tax administration. Though the territory register calls for additional information that is relevant to planning, but not tax administration, critical elements of the territory register comprise essential elements of a tax register.

1.3 ANTICIPATED CHANGES TO PROPERTY TAX SYSTEM The Government of Albania is planning to reform the existing property tax system, which were taken into consideration for this report. The IMF is preparing to fund a fiscal cadastre of properties that is separate from IPRO. The fiscal cadastre will be created to support property

2 ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION taxation in Albania, but the role of municipal governments in updating and maintaining fiscal cadastre information has yet to be finalized. In addition to the fiscal cadastre, the government has plans to move toward a system of open market value for property taxation. The ALUIZNI process, fiscal cadastre and move to open market valuation are not likely to be completed during the life of PLGP and were taken into limited consideration for the purposes of these recommendations, which are focused on practical steps that can be taken immediately.

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 3

2.0 APPROACH

2.1 GIS PROCESS FOR MUNICIPAL TAXATION The objective of this work is to operationalize GIS tools that will facilitate property tax collection and tax administration for partner municipalities through the creation of a working register for each municipality. The tax register contains a subset of relevant information from the municipality’s territory register with a focus on land and taxable assets. An operational tax register provides municipalities with a critical first step to generate invoices for tax collection, resulting in increased own-source revenue. Creation of a working tax register through a property inventory is a critical output of PLGP’s “Action Plans” for each municipality. This section describes the general process, with a GIS focus, by which municipalities establish a tax register. This process draws upon the general steps taken by both Korça and Fier and reflects lessons learned from other meetings held throughout the assessment. It is important to note that creation of a working tax register is led by municipalities. GIS tools serve to support the creation of the register in a comprehensive manner. GIS processes for creating a tax register (Figure 1) start from base data layers about the municipality’s landscape. This base information involves roads and buildings, which are created from basemap imagery (orthophotos, satellite images). Data on roads and buildings can then be utilized to generate a numbered address system for the municipal territory. With a functional address system in place, municipal staff can then conduct a property inventory, collecting information about individual properties, measuring property size, and recording information about ownership. Data from the property inventory forms the basis of a territory register. Relevant tax information from the territory register can then be used for a tax register. A working tax register kicks off the tax cycle of billing and collection, resulting in increased own- source revenues. These steps, depicted below, are described in greater detail in the following sections. Address Property Territory Tax Base Data Tax Cycle WHAT System Inventory Register Register

Urban Tax Urban Planning Department Engineers Tax Agent WHO Planning Department

Figure 1: GIS Process for Municipal Taxation

It is important to note that, while Fier and Korça have made considerable progress in establishing a tax register using GIS tools, all of the PLGP partner municipalities will need to conduct a property inventory for the expanded territories that comprise post-Territorial Administrative Reform municipalities. Setting up a streamlined, functional process as TAR goes into effect will aid in a smooth and efficient transition of the new LGUs and increase the scale and effectiveness of own-source revenues.

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 1 In addition to data collection and management considerations, the relationships between municipal offices will need to facilitate efficient exchange of information. The “Who” line of Figure 1 demonstrates the different offices involved from addressing to property inventory to creation of the tax register.

2.1.1 Start from Base Layers Buildings are the current basis for property taxation in Albania. From a GIS perspective, data collection should begin with building locations (see Figure 2). Digital files of road locations and names are also an essential starting point. Though IPRO data is the legal basis for property taxation, challenges in obtaining and using this data, as discussed in section 1.1, make this source difficult, if not impossible, for most municipalities to SPATIAL DATASETS FOR utilize. Albania has ALBANIAN BUILDINGS a few other datasets that contain building INSTAT – Buildings in this data outlines, which this source were digitized (created in digital format from orthophotos) assessment for the census. They were likely evaluated as Figure 2: Buildings in a GIS digitized from a mix of older alternative starting imagery and have not been points (see text at left). updated. The datasets described in the textbox are all hosted on the Ministry of Interior – This dataset includes building outlines State Authority for Geospatial Information (ASIG) geoportal. that were created for the address The geoportal hosts data from different ministries and system, which has not been publishes each dataset as a Web Map Service (WMS), which updated recently. users can load into a GIS software. However, publication of Planning data – For data as a WMS allows users to only view the data. Datasets municipalities where Co-Plan is published by ASIG can only be viewed with limitations. For working on urban plans, example, while ASIG publishes parcel information, buildings and roads have been information about each parcel is limited and cannot be used or will be generated in digitial format to provide a viable in a functional database. ASIG is working on a standardized starting point for municipalities national spatial data infrastructure that will allow for where IPRO data is not improved data exchange and interoperability, but at this time, available. Co-Plan is digitizing datasets are only available for viewing purposes. building outlines from 2007 orthophotos and Esri basemap Given the limitations with central datasets, municipalities imagery. should utilize IPRO and ALUIZNI data as available, but should not wait for access to these data. The territory register data structure should be flexible enough to allow for future integration of central datasets, but municipalities should proceed with property inventory using the best data available at this time. For several of the PLGP partner LGUs, if IPRO data is not available in a useful format, the spatial datasets generated by Co-Plan for planning purposes will provide a substitute starting point for creation of an address system and launch of a property inventory.

2 ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 2.1.2 Address System Once municipalities have base data layers (buildings and roads) they can then generate a functional address system. Though all municipalities created an initial address system for submission to the Ministry of Interior, the address system is not updated or fully functional for most municipalities. For example, in Elbasan tax officials reported that many of their invoices are not able to be delivered by the postal service. Both Korça and Fier started their GIS process by updating and improving Figure 3: Field map in Fier depicting numbered address their address systems. The numbered system address system has information on building number, entrance number and dwelling number within the entrance. Fier utilized a web-GIS platform and data structure built by Geo Consulting/Invent to create the address system. Korça manually created the address system through a combined use of Excel, AutoCAD and GIS (ArcGIS 9.3 and QGIS).

2.1.3 Property Inventory After establishing a functional, numbered address system in a GIS, municipal staff work with field inspectors to conduct a property inventory. Data collection is led by municipalities with support of GIS tools. Data to be collected should be determined by the territory and tax registry needs to ensure that data collection exercises are capturing relevant data for tax calculation.

Municipalities utilize existing personnel to Figure 4: Field map for property inventory in Fier conduct inventory. In Korça inventory is completed by engineers, in Elbasan data is collected by tax and urban offices with tax police occasionally joining the team. These teams inspect a property, measure the property in absence of a title and calculate the tax owed. Many municipalities have launched a property inventory, but all will need to plan for inventory of the post-TAR municipal territory. In addition, Korça’s inventory process has been stymied by need for a more streamlined data management process.

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 3 2.1.4 Territory Register to Tax Register PROPERTY INVENTORY DATA COLLECTION PROCESS

1. Plan data collection details 2. Create enumeration area map books – paper maps of small areas that allow enumeration teams to track progress. 3. Generate data collection form and make copies 4. Conduct enumerator training – how to collect data, how to track progress on map books 5. Conduct field data collection – linking building to spatial data using building ID 6. Manually enter and verify data into territory register

As data from the property inventory is collected, it will be EXAMPLE TERRITORY entered into the territory register data structure (see example at AND TAX REGISTER DATA right). Though all fields in the example at right are utilized for FIELDS the territory register, fields highlighted in red are particularly Building ID important for tax calculation and comprise the basis of the tax register. Relevant fields from the territory register thus Cadastral Zone comprise the tax register. Block

For municipalities where the water utility is the tax agent, such IPRO ID as Korça, the territory register also contains information on meter number and water utility customer number. Of note Address regarding tax agents in post-TAR municipalities. In Korça, the Building Type seven new communes that will comprise the post-TAR municipality do not receive services from the water utility. Building footprint area Thus a different tax delivery and collection system will need to Owner Name be instituted. Ownership split (%)

2.2 GUIDING PRINCIPLES Surface Area (m2) - property As PLGP supports partner LGUs to create a functioning tax register, some guiding principles may be of use: Property category Registration date • Build from what is available. As discussed above, if IPRO data is not available to municipalities, use alternative Registration status sources such as spatial datasets generated for planning purposes. Number of floors • Build for upcoming changes. The government is planning Year of Construction to institute a fiscal cadastre, is likely to transition property taxation to open market value and may begin to tax urban land. Keep data structures flexible and include parcel information whenever possible to allow for maximum interoperability as the property tax system changes. • Don’t overbuild GIS functionality. Focus on the need. Municipalities need to create a tax register. The spatial component of this information are the buildings and properties. The GIS database should allow for registration and updating of buildings and properties, but does not need to perform the entire tax cycle. • Use free and open source tools. Using free and open source tools as much as possible will allow municipalities to develop processes and procedures that are not reliant upon expensive licensing fees and will provide a more sustainable solution.

4 ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION • Balance capacity building with solution delivery. Develop the skills and abilities of municipal staff to understand how GIS data are created and managed to encourage municipal ownership over tools and processes.

2.3 GIS RESOURCES When considering the most appropriate approach for municipalities to utilize GIS for property tax collection and administration, it is important to consider resources available in Albania. During the course of this two week assessment, several resources became apparent for both solution design/delivery as well as capacity building:

SOLUTION DESIGN AND DELIVERY

ikubINFO – Bujar Drishti: Working for a partner company of ikubINFO, a PLGP subcontractor, Mr. Drishti built the ASIG geoportal. In addition, he serves on the Faculty of Civil Engineering/Geodesy at the Polytechnic University. He teaches and lectures on GIS and AutoCAD and is very knowledgable about the Albanian positioning system. He could likely design a web GIS solution that would facilitate capture of territory register information and would also be able to provide capacity building.

Geo Consulting/INVENT – Edmond Lekaj: Mr. Lekaj has built an impressive web GIS engine that is currently in use in Fier. Geo Consulting offers four web GIS modules on addressing, cadastre, mass valuation and payment. Mr. Lekaj envisions his platform as a fully functional fiscal cadastre and property tax system for municipalities. The platform is discussed in more detail in section 3.3. The Geo Consulting platform would provide a proven platform for creation of a tax register, but may not be the most sustainable choice for Albanian municipalities.

It is important to note that several independent meetings during this assessment mentioned that Geo Consulting’s prices are prohibitive and they have had to seek alternatives as a result. When asked about his pricing, Mr. Lekaj was not specific. Pricing must be clarified before entering into a contract with Geo Consulting.

CAPACITY BUILDING

Co-Plan: PLGP’s partner is creating spatial data for the territories of five post-TAR municipalities. They are planning to offer limited GIS training around urban planning and already have working relationships with municipal staff. Co-Plan staff and, potentially, students of Polis University who are already involved in spatial data creation have the technical skills to serve as trainers and coaches to facilitate development of tax registers for each municipality.

Peace Corps Volunteers: As evidenced by the success of Fier, Peace Corps Volunteers embedded in partner LGUs can assist municipalities with property inventory tasks. Several Volunteers have expressed interest in this work.

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 5 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1 TIRANA Current Status The tax department in Tirana is not currently using any GIS functionality. Tirana has received IPRO data for one cadastral zone and reported difficulties in cleaning and manipulating the data. The tax team reported that IPRO data double registered properties with different ID numbers. In addition, IPRO data is very difficult to use for those who are not employed by IPRO. The Tirana staff requested training to better understand IPRO data. A visit to the urban planning department of Tirana revealed that, while the planning office has spatial data on parcels and buildings, it has not been updated for over five years. Previous attempts at integration with the tax office ended when the tax office move out of the main building, creating challenges with network connectivity. Next Steps The tax office in Tirana reported that a door-to-door property inventory in Tirana is impossible, thus Tirana is simply waiting to receive further IPRO data in order to proceed with construction of a tax register.

3.2 KORÇA Current Status As mentioned throughout section 2.0 Korça has created the tools and conducted the inventory to create both an updated, functional address system as well as a territory/tax register that covers 90% of the buildings of the current municipal territory. The process integrated data from IPRO, municipal data sources (address system, water utility customer number) and ALUIZNI maps. The team reported difficulty in merging data from different platforms as data standards are lacking. As mandated by the law, Korça receives transaction information from IPRO every three months. This transaction data arrives in a paper-based format. In terms of software, the current Korça process utilizes AutoCAD, GIS software and Excel. These desktop software packages are not multi-user friendly and result in multiple fragmented spreadsheets and files. While the team’s progress has been impressive, the work is at somewhat of a standstill due to the fact that the data are fragmented across multiple spreadsheets and the workflow is not streamlined for territory and tax register purposes. Korça has formally requested assistance from USAID to enhance its GIS capabilities and to build a territory register that can also be used for tax purposes. In particular, the Korça team has requested assistance for a platform that allows multiple users to add, update and view data which will allow for the necessary integrated functions across urban planning, engineering, tax and the water utility. An improved data management system would allow for identification of owners of multiple properties. Korça staff realize that their current system is not functional for administration of the post-TAR municipality. In particular, the water utility, which currently acts as a tax agent for the existing

6 ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION municipality, does not provide service to the additional seven communes that comprise post- TAR Korça. Next Steps PLGP should support Korça to enhance its GIS capabilities through improved territorial register functionality. Korça staff are highly motivated and the data structure agreed upon in Korça can serve as a template to be adapted in other municipalities. Support for Korça’s territory register should focus mainly on creating the functionality on the territory register that is essential for tax administration. Over time, municipalities gradually build the additional functionality required for a complete territory planning register. Unlike other partner LGUs, with the exception of Fier, Korça already has most of the data needed to populate the territory register for the current municipal territory. The territory register for Korça should have the following draft functionality (full specs should be defined with Korça staff): • Integrate data from o Address system o Water utility customer number o Civil registry o Building and parcels o Cadastral zones o Agricultural cadastre o Voting block system • Create a relational data structure to link address to building and property, building to property, property to owner, property to water utility customer number, owner to civil registry information. • Allow easy identification of owners of multiple properties • Structure should be as simple and easy-to-use as possible • Allows multi-user access to view and edit data with user permissions managed by administrative user at Korça municipality • Allow for spatial data (geometry) and tabular data (attribute) creation and editing to be defined by user privilege • Contain quality control procedures and typology flags to ensure creation and maintenance of data quality

3.3 FIER Current Status Fier has invested in the Geo Consulting/Invent platform to create a web GIS-based tax register of its current municipal territory. Geo Consulting is currently developing a payment module that will provide services for the full property tax cycle. The Geo Consulting platform in use in Fier has produced considerable results with 12,600 buildings and 25,000 properties inventoried in a three month window. From 2013 to 2014 revenue from family property tax increased 260%. The Geo Consulting platform is web-based, requiring user login for access. The platform presents a relational data structure in an interface that is intuitive and easy-to-use which allows users to quickly grasp data entry and editing. Users enter information about owner information,

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 7 address, property size (area), building category and registration date. In addition, users can upload pictures of the property. The database allows IPRO data to be linked to a property record, but does not require IPRO or ALUIZNI data. Users in Fier were assigned to collect data for one zone, allowing an administrator to track progress. For administration purposes, the platform tracks completion status of the inventory and also contains built in quality control alerts. For example, if a user draws a building footprint that is 50m2 and then attempts to enter a footprint size of 100m2 the platform automatically flags the entry. Administrators also have access to a set of automatic reports such as projected collections for each zone. The current platform in Fier, as demonstrated, is not quite a fully functional tax administration platform, though the municipality has successfully sent invoices. The current platform does not track business taxes and also does not have information about agricultural land tax. In addition, municipal staff are quite reliant upon Geo Consulting for platform functionality. For example, Geo Consulting must be involved to make any changes to the structure, add/edit users, and for report construction. Next Steps Fier is already heavily invested in the Geo Consulting/Invent platform, but has requested information about integration of platforms. This functionality is not specifically GIS-based, therefore the recommendation at this time is to support Fier with an independent consultation to determine what computerized tax system fits its needs. This consultation should work with municipal staff to understand the cost/benefit of different systems over time as well as cost of switching systems at this time.

3.4 MODEL MUNICIPALITIES (BERAT, ELBASAN, KUÇOVA, LUSHJNE) Current Status Some of the PLGP model municipalities are working on building a tax register, though none of the municipalities in this grouping are utilizing GIS tools. Elbasan expressed interest in utilizing GIS tools and estimates that, with more accurate property measurements, property is likely to triple. Next Steps In order to create a comprehensive, working tax register, PLPG should determine which of these model municipalities (Berat, Elbasan, Kuçova, Lushjne) are motivated to undertake the GIS process. PLGP can provide support for solution delivery and capacity building to: 1. Support the implementation of a functional, updated address system, 2. Create a georeferenced territory/tax register for the post-TAR municipal territory and 3. Provide training and capacity building to effectively develop, update and deploy GIS tools amongst municipal staff.

All of these municipalities will have spatial data generated by Co-Plan for buildings and roads of the post-TAR municipal territory, which can serve as an alternative starting point if IPRO data is

8 ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION not available. Municipal staff should be supported to manage data between territorial and tax functions both organizationally and from a data management perspective. Model municipalities will benefit from the data model developed for the territory register for Korça and will be able to adapt, as needed. While the data model will provide a structure for the tax register, it will also be important to build capacity for municipal staff to ensure their full understanding of their work and the database functionality. Training and capacity building can take the form of both formal trainings as well as individualized coaching and hands on monitoring. Relevant subjects for GIS capacity building include the following modules and hands on work:

MODULE DESCRIPTION

• What is GIS? How is GIS used for municipal planning, governance, decision making? Intro to GIS • GIS for municipal taxation • Introduction to spatial data, GIS software interface (desktop or web based) • Types of spatial data • Work with existing municipal spatial data (roads, buildings) Spatial data • Create enumeration zones for management (incorporate cadastral zones/voting creation areas) • COACHING: enumeration zone creation • How Korça and Fier utilize their address systems Address • Create or update address system for municipality – building number, entrance system number • COACHING: completed address system • Lessons learned from Fier property inventory Property • Plan territorial inventory include data checking and validation process inventory • Field map book creation • COACHING: field map book creation • The Korça territory register Territory • Integrating IPRO and ALUIZNI data to buildings data register • Integrating civil registry data • Managing and updating territory register information • Working with the agricultural cadastre Agricultural • Adding agricultural land to the territory register land

3.5 OTHER PARTNER LGUS (KAMZA, PATOS, SARANDA, VLORA, VORA) Current Status PLGP will not be focusing intensive support for these municipalities, but these partner LGUs also have a need for a functional tax register. Next Steps

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 9 Provide suggested methodology for creating a functional tax register. Without spatial datasets as generated by Co-Plan or access to IPRO data, this methodology involves:

PROPERTY INVENTORY DATA COLLECTION PROCESS (MOBILE DATA)

1. Start from imagery (satellite or orthophoto) 2. Determine details of data collection 3. Create enumeration area map books – paper maps of small areas that allow enumeration teams to track progress 4. Obtain tablets/smartphones 5. Generate mobile data collection form and test functionality 6. Enumerator training – how to collect data, how to track progress on map books 7. Conduct field data collection – create points for each building 8. Upload data to GIS and verify data

This methodology allows municipalities to generate spatial data using mobile devices (smartphones, tablets). The benefit to this methodology is that these devices incorporate functionalities of a handheld GPS unit, camera, pen and paper, automatic calculation and structured data entry. Free and open source mobile data collection will be of limited burden for the municipality and will enable faster, higher quality data collection.

10 ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 4.0 NEXT STEPS

PLGP’s next steps for utilizing GIS to support municipal tax collection and administration should prioritize support to Korça to create an integrated, multi-use territory/tax registry solution. Korça is eager for the support and can lead as an example for other municipalities. Following local elections in mid-June 2015, PLGP should work with model municipalities to identify a pilot municipality (or two) which has interest in and motivation to build a comprehensive tax register using GIS tools. Once a model municipality has been identified, PLGP can provide support to develop an address system and territory/tax registry. PLGP will need to determine the correct mix of capacity building and solution design and delivery in support of this goal.

ALBANIA PLGP: UTILIZING GIS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION 1 U.S. Agency for International Development/Albania c/o American Embassy Rr. Elbasanit, Nr. 103 Tirana, Albania Phone: +355 (0)42 247 285