The Times of India                       13.03.2013

Betterment tax for those owning property near ORR

MYSORE: Property owners residing within 500m radius and along the outer ring road (ORR) must shell out more.

Muda has proposed to levy a tax on them to generate revenue.

It is aiming to earn Rs 20 crore in the next fiscal from the proposed betterment tax.

Muda commissioner C G Betsurmath told TOI that there is a provision under Karnataka Urban Development Act (1987) to levy betterment tax, and the urban body has proposed to collect the same from this year.

Under this, all those residing within 500m radius from ORR need to pay one-time betterment tax. The tax was proposed as property owners have benefitted largely by the development of 45m wide ORR. "We are working out a plan in this regard," the commissioner said.

Outer ring road toll

Henceforth, those owning four-wheelers and heavy vehicles need to pay a toll if they use ORR in Mysore.

Muda officials said it will help generate revenue to the tune of Rs 1 crore. Muda needs funds for developing the ORR as per the Centre's requirements like creating service roads on both sides, space for pedestrians, and underbridge.

Betsurmath said: "With no support from the government, we need to generate funds on our own, and hence the ORR toll. We will work out a plan on how to go about it."

Cleaning cess

Property owners, take note. If you have left your sites vacant, you need to pay cleaning cess to the civic body. This follows complaints from those in the vicinity of vacant sites in Muda layouts. Muda will levy tax on owners to remove weeds and debris from their sites. The tax is estimated at Re 1 per sqft. Rs 2 crore revenue is expected from this.

Major schemes

* Rs 8-crore GREEN + (cross) project aims at improving the city's greenery by planting saplings in new layouts and on roadsides

* Rs 3 crore for developing important road junctions under beautification project

* Rs 4 crore for the conservation of water bodies

* Rs 5 crore for the construction of a conventional hall of international standards

* Rs 4 crore for the installation of statues of dewans of Mysore -- Sir MV, Poornaiah, Sir Mirza Ismail and N Madhava Rao

* Rs 3 crore for the construction of Basava Bhavan

* Rs 4.95 crore to develop Bal Bhavan

* Rs 3 crore to increase the seating capacity at Bannimantap Parade grounds

* Rs 1 crore to create bus bays on important stretches to ease traffic congestion

* Rs 1 crore for the creation of bicycle track

* Rs 2 crore for th development of six roads in Bannimantap, Bogadi, Vijayanagar I Stage, Siddartha Layout, Yadavagiri and Ashokapuram.