Local Revenue Collection Efficiency and Social Service Delivery in a Ugandan Local Government: Evidence from Dabani Sub County

Local revenue provides an important source of financial capacity through which local governments support the provision of public services, particularly where dependence on central government transfers remains substantial. This study examined the relationship between local revenue collection efficiency and the quality of social service delivery in Dabani Sub-County, Busia District Local Government, Uganda. A quantitative cross-sectional research design was adopted, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 350 respondents selected from an estimated population of 10,516 households. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's product-moment correlation and simple linear regression were used to analyse the data. The findings showed a positive and statistically significant relationship between local revenue collection efficiency and the quality of social service delivery (r = .563, p < .001). Regression results similarly indicated that local revenue collection efficiency was a significant predictor of service delivery quality (β = .563, t = 12.70, p < .001), explaining 31.7% of the observed variation in service delivery quality (R² = .317). The findings suggest that strengthening the efficiency of local revenue collection may contribute to improved social service delivery at the subcounty level, although other institutional and financial factors also remain important.