As the financial year is coming to a close, city corporation officials are expediting property tax collection drive.
As on Monday, the corporation had collected Rs 122 crore as property tax, which is 62% of the total demand of Rs 197 crore. Last year, at the same time, the civic body had collected Rs 118 crore or 63% of the then the demand of Rs 187 crore.
Even though the corporation lags behind the collection drive by 1% compared to the previous year, the collected amount is much higher. Explaining that the number of assessments in the city increases with each passing day as the applications to levy property tax for new buildings is approved, a corporation official said that the demand for property tax would also increase along with the increase in assessments.
As on Monday, the city had 5.18 lakh assessments, including residential houses and commercial establishments.
The official said that the civic body had raised its property tax collection target from 95% to 97%, this year. “To achieve the target, we have set up special collection centres.”
As many as 29 collection centres are functioning across the city. They are open from 8am to 5pm from Monday to Saturday and even on Sundays from 8am to 2pm.
Until last year, the centres were functioning only from 9am to 2pm.
Meanwhile, the tax arrear demand is increasing every year. This year, the demand stands at Rs 32.58 crore, of which, the corporation has collected only Rs 8.26 crore, which is only 25% of the amount. “We have identified the top 100 defaulters in each zone and have issued notices to them,” the official added.
A couple of months ago, the state government had withheld its revised property tax in effect since April 2018 and had allowed property owners to pay the taxes at the pre-revision rates.
