Nakuru County Assembly Finance committee chairman Moses Ndung'u has asked Transitional Authority chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi to drop proposals that will increase counties’ wage bill.
He said Wamwangi should do away with recommendations seeking to have village elders employed by the county government.
Speaking during a public participation forum for the proposed budget on Thursday at Old Town Hall, Ndung’u said the county would incur a total expenditure of Sh6 billion if they are to employ people as recommended by the authority.
"Currently we are grappling with a wage bill of Sh4b and if it is pushed further we will not be able to pay our workers well," said Ndung’u.
Ndung'u said Sh4.9 billion of the monies given to the counties goes to salaries.
"Employees take up the biggest share of the budget and if we add more, we will not be able to bring any development to the rural villages," noted Ndung'u.
Earlier in the meeting, residents threatened to walk out as they did not have printed copies of the budget.
"We could not estimate how many people would come for the hearing and since it is a voluminous piece, we could not print all of them," said Ndung'u.
Flamingo Member of County Assembly Moses Gichangi suggested that the public participation meeting should be held in the constituencies and not in the wards.