|
Pay for waste: Water may cost 50% more
Friday, 18 September 2009 07:13
administrator
The Times of India 18.09.2009 Pay for waste: Water may cost 50% moreDeepak Yadav, TNN 18 September 2009, 05:03am IST CHANDIGARH: With litres of water going down the drain everyday, the municipal corporation has come up with a financial solution that it feels can plug the wastage. An agenda relating to hike in water tariff is all set to be tabled during a finance and contract committee meeting during the coming week. The number crunching - done by engineering wing’s public health department - indicates an almost 50% increase in water rates. However, the economically weaker sections would not be saddled.
According to information, the increase per unit for first slab (1 to 15,000kl) of domestic use has been proposed at Rs 3 against the current Rs 1.75, the second slab (15,001 to 30,000kl) from Rs 3.50 to Rs 5, third slab (30,001 to 60,000kl) from Rs 5 to Rs 7, and fourth (60,000kl and above) from Rs 6 to Rs 7. The charges for commercial supply have been proposed at Rs 15, from the current Rs 11.
MC commissioner Roshan Sunkaria said, ‘‘The proposed hike is almost by 50% and poor sections have been kept out of the loop.’’ Tagging conservation as the chief reason, Sunkaria said, ‘‘This hike is required as there is water shortage in the city. Besides, we are bound to act according to an agreement under JNNURM.’’
Explaining further, MC additional commissioner-cum-secretary P K Sharma said, ‘‘As part of the JNNURM deal, the Union government’s terms are very clear ‘ UT will get the grants only if we too generate resources to fulfil the water demand. Apart from that, the cost of generation, execution and maintenance of water-related works has gone up tremendously.’’ Sharma listed the overall increase in water tariff across the nation as another cause.
Not wishing to be named, a senior engineer told TOI, ‘‘Water level in Chandigarh is going down. As a result, most of the southern sectors are facing an acute shortage.’’
However, the move has left the political class cross. Congress councillor and chairman of water committee Ravinder Pal Singh Pali said, ‘‘This is totally unjust and we’re not aware of any hike. We will not allow this proposal to pass.’’ Former mayor Harjinder Kaur, a SAD councillor, said, ‘‘During the tenure of Congress-led MC, then mayor Surinder Singh had signed the JNNURM agreement with Centre without taking the elected body into confidence. Why should Chandigarh residents pay for the deficiencies of Congress. The city generates surplus budget, which is sent to Union government. Why can’t that money be used for this purpose’’’
BSP councillor Jatinder Bhatia suggested, ‘‘The civic body must find out a way to stop wastage. Then, it must penalize government departments or officials who have failed to clear huge water bills for years. Only after recovering the amount should the MC think of hiking water rate.’’
|
Special NMC drive after Diwali to recover property tax
Thursday, 17 September 2009 07:22
administrator
The Times of India 17.09.2009 Special NMC drive after Diwali to recover property taxSachin Dravekar, TNN 17 September 2009, 05:28am IST NAGPUR: To mop up more revenue, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation will embark on a special drive to recover property tax from over five lakh defaulting after the festival season, sources at Nagpur Municipal Corporation said on Wednesday.
"At present, NMC has directed all the zone officials to prepare a list of property tax defaulters. The property owners who have unpaid taxes of Rs 5,000 and more will be issued notices by the respective zonal offices on priority basis," officials said. They said that the intensive recovery drive has been postponed only due to the festival season.
The NMC standing committee has set a revenue target of Rs 130 crore for the property tax department for 2009-10. Till date (September 16) the property tax department has recovered only Rs 17 crore property tax. This amount is Rs 2 crore more than the tax recovered during the similar period last year.
As part of the first phase of this recovery drive, NMC has begun an exercise to revaluate or reassess tax on 1.80 lakh properties in 23 of the 75 wards across 10 zones in the city. As per the new policy, property tax is being calculated on the basis of rental value or the annual letting value of the property. Thus the revaluation exercise essentially involves the revision of standard rent of properties in a particular area.
The corporation has categorised non-commercial properties depending on their use while calculating their rent, a senior property tax official said. "We will complete the revaluation of over 1 lakh properties in these 23 wards and will be able to issue them notices under relevant sections of the CNC Act. The civic body has already completed the survey and revaluation of 50,000 properties," officials said.
Officials of the property tax department also said that the department is facing a severe staff crunch since the last few months. Of the 340 approved posts, only 193 employees have been deputed to the property tax department to complete the target given by NMC. Even among these, over 100 employees are presently engaged in the state assembly election duties, which has forced NMC to slow down the recovery work. However, once the elections and the festival season ends we will start special drives to complete the target, one official said.
The department had recovered Rs 91.54 crore as property tax in 2007-08 while the figure was Rs 115.15 crore in 2008-09. "In 2009-10 too the department expects to cross the Rs 100 crore mark as against the target of Rs 130 crore," the official added.
Intensive drive launched for collection of property tax
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 13:16
administrator
The Hindu 16.09.2009 Intensive drive launched for collection of property tax Staff Reporter PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry Municipality has launched an intensive drive for collection of house/property tax. In a press release issued here, Commissioner of the Municipality S. Kuppusamy said the announcement for payment of house/property tax for the period till 2005-2006 has been given. However, in future, the public should not wait for any intimation for payment of tax and the amount should be paid on the basis of the 2005-2006 notice. It has asked the public to pay the tax amount for the period till 2009-2010 immediately and avoid imposition of fine. Similarly, the Commissioner asked the cable television operators in the municipality limits to pay the arrears of entertainment tax immediately. Commercial outlets and industries in the local body limits should apply for license/renewal of license of the municipality.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 September 2009 13:17
|
AMC offers upto 100% interest rebate to tax defaulters
Monday, 14 September 2009 16:44
administrator
The Indian Express 14.09.2009 AMC offers upto 100% interest rebate to tax defaultersAlarmed by the sluggish tax recovery in the first half of the current financial year, the municipal authorities have once again offered interest rebate to tax defaulters who are yet to pay dues under the old formula. Under the pre-2000 old formula, they owe the civic body a hefty Rs 600 crore. The AMC has come out with interest rebate of 100 per cent on slums and chawls, and 50 per cent from other residential properties. By way of concession, it has offered to charge penal interest on dues at 8 per cent against the 18 per cent charged on default. The scheme will be in force from September 15 to November 13 to recover dues to the tune of Rs 250 crore, excluding those from closed textile mills. It is for the first time in its history that the civic body has been compelled to offer interest rebate to defaulters in just six months. The move will enable it to show a respectful collection figure by the end of the third quarter. The recovery due may be Rs 600 crore under the old formula, but the AMC cannot hope to recover beyond Rs 250 crore because a large chunk is due from closed textile mills, which have entwined with the AMC in legal tangle. Therefore, they have been excluded from the scheme, say civic officials. Standing committee chairman Asit Vora said there was nothing unusual in offering rebates frequently. “What to do when people do not pay taxes at all?” he lamented. He said there was nothing wrong in offering interest rebates if the recovery got a boost this way. The standing committee has already passed the proposal in its previous meeting.
Last Updated on Monday, 14 September 2009 16:46
Last-ditch effort by JMC to collect taxes
Monday, 14 September 2009 11:17
administrator
The Times of India 14.09.2009 Last-ditch effort by JMC to collect taxesAkhilesh Sourav Jha, TNN 14 September 2009, 03:45am IST JAIPUR: After failed to persuade people to pay taxes, the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) in it's last-ditched effort resorted to mobile tax collection centres at various locations in the city. The second mobile camp will be organised at Ganpati Plaza to give mall owners the last opportunity to pay their dues. The JMC authorities hinted at seizure of bank accounts along with attaching of properties of the tax evaders if they fail to fall in line.
There is an outstanding dues of Rs 20 crore with commercial complex owners in Civil Lines zone. There are seven other zones in the city. Abha Jain, zonal commissioner, Civil Lines, claimed, "In our first camp at Apex Mall, we sat for the whole day but no one turned up. We had served notices to them but they are still waiting for the government to waive tax."
Jain said the JMC has no choice but to come down heavily on tax evaders. "We will wait till Monday camp. Thereafter, we have to propose for attaching their properties and seizing bank accounts. However, final decision will be taken by the house tax committee of the JMC," said Jain.
Official records show that apart from tax dues, crores of rupees will be collected as lease money and revenue on account of advertisements and use of boards and signages. "There is an outstanding due of at least Rs 10 crore in Civil Lines zone. Now, calculate how much money these big commercial mall owners owe to JMC across the city," Jain added.
Civil Lines zone is followed by Moti Dungri and Vidyadhar Nagar zone as the number of evaders are concerned. Official sources have confirmed that as of now over Rs110 crore needs to be collected as house tax and over Rs 50 crore under the new urban tax regime.
"Just to speed up the collection process, the government has announced incentives but it seems that too has not worked," feels a tax assessor with the JMC. He said rumours of all these taxes could be waived completely act as negative propaganda by some politicians.
According to officials the fund-starved local bodies in the state, including the JMC, the state government's decision to abolish the house/property tax by issuing a notification on August 29, 2007 and replacing it with urban development tax (UD) have not done any good to the local bodies. Certain exemptions announced in the new UD tax have been completely misplaced to which number of tax payers have strongly reacted and have filed suit in the court against the new tax regime.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 150 of 159 |
