The Hindu 29.03.2017
Corporation Budget passed amid uproar
Graft in property tax collection alleged
The city Corporation’s annual Budget for 2017-18 was passed by the
Corporation council on Tuesday with 44 votes in favour of the Budget
against 35 in opposition.
With the Budget discussion marred by
allegations of corruption raised by the Opposition Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) and the ruling LDF refuting the charges, the councillors of
the United Democratic Front (UDF) staged a walkout, with Beemapally
Rasheed saying that amidst the allegations, the UDF was being denied its
chance to comment on the Budget.
A major concern expressed by the
Opposition was the sum of Rs. 50 crore to be collected as arrears in
property tax, with councillors alleging that many large enterprises in
the city had not been making tax payments.
In response to this,
Deputy Mayor Rakhi Ravikumar said the Corporation would initiate revenue
recovery proceedings to collect tax arrears as part of a special drive,
and the Revenue estimates would be revised by reducing the tax amount
that cannot be recovered.
New proposals in the budget regarding an
exhibition fee from cable TV operators and a vacant plot cess, which
had faced severe opposition from the BJP and UDF, would not be
implemented unless the council unanimously supported the proposal, the
Deputy Mayor said.
Allegations
It
was brought to the notice of the council that the Tax Appeal standing
committee, chaired by Simi Jyothish of the BJP, had allowed concessions
in several property tax appeals without the permission of the
Corporation Secretary or the council. Out of an estimate of Rs. 6.98
crore charged in taxes, only around Rs. 1.90 crore was collected by the
committee.
While the BJP councillors defended the move, the LDF
and UDF councillors reproached it, citing the Kerala Municipality Act,
under which such concessions can be made only by the Corporation
Secretary based on the recommendations of the Tax Appeal standing
committee.
Following a heated discussion on the matter, Mayor V.K. Prasanth agreed to conduct an inquiry into the matter.