The municipal corporation is likely to miss its housing tax collection target for the third consecutive financial year and this in turn may hit development projects in the city.
Against a tax target of Rs 260 crore from 5.48 lakh households under its jurisdiction, the LMC has been able to collect around Rs 220 crore from 3.98 lakh till date. With less than three months left for the financial year to end and given its past record, the LMC is staring at a Herculean task ahead.
According to civic officials, nearly 70% of the total housing tax collected is used for construction or repair of roads, installation of street lights and setting up of parks, among other things. The rest goes towards payment of salaries. Hence, poor tax realisation may translate into slo-mo or no development work in 2020-21.
To shore up revenue this year, the LMC had offered a number of concessions to defaulters by introducing a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme. It gave defaulters 5% discount on the principal amount and waived off the interest on the defaulting amount.
Around 2.5 lakh households availed of the benefits of the OTS scheme, which ended on December 31, 2019. And yet, the civic body is short of its target by over 15%.
Officials had tried every offbeat trick in the book to make defaulters clear their tax dues. On one occasion, the LMC had used a music band to name-shame defaulters in front of their respective residences.
The bizarre plan backfired when some civic staff were beaten up. The LMC’s online payment service too hasn’t begun in the right earnest, compounding its woes.
Now, the LMC plans a drive, beginning Thursday, during which its officials will visit the remaining 1.5 lakh households to collect tax. “We will seal houses that don’t clear dues,” warned LMC tax superintendent Kuldeep Awasthi.