Indian Express 22.02.2010
Civic body okays 8 per cent tax hike
Tags : corporation, 8 per cent tax hike Posted: Monday , Feb 22, 2010 at 0251 hrs\
A proposal to increase taxes by eight percent was passed at the general body meeting of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Saturday. Opposition parties had been opposing the proposal for the past few weeks.
Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioner Asheesh Sharma had initially proposed a 21 per cent increase in taxes. This had met with severe criticism from the opposition parties such as the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Consequently, the proposal was scrapped by the PCMC standing committee. Recently, the Pune Municipal Corporation increased taxes by eleven percent. Following which the district guardian minister Ajit Pawar had taken up the issue with NCP corporators in Pimpri Chinchwad as to why they were reluctant to increase taxes when the PMC had increased them. He had told them that the various development projects in Pimpri-Chinchwad couldn't be implemented successfully if the municipal corporation was not able to raise financial resources. Later, NCP party leader Jagdish Shetty mooted the proposal of hiking tax rates by eight per cent instead of 21 per cent.
On Saturday, the general body meeting started around 15 minutes late at 2.15 pm. Opposition parties had threatened a mass protest if the tax hike proposal was passed by the NCP on the basis of the its majority in the municipal corporation. No sooner had the meeting started, NCP corporator appealed to Mayor Yogesh Behl that the general body meeting be postponed. This led to a din in the house as Congress, Shiv Sena and independent corporators demanded that since the issue of tax hike was going to the decided upon, the general body meeting should not be postponed. As many as 18 corporators supporting independent MLA Vilas Lande who were opposed to the tax hike proposal did not attend the genral body meeting.
Pimpri-Chinchwad Mayor Yogesh Behl said that according to Section 99 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1949, any increase in taxes should be decided upon in a meeting held before February 20 of that year. “It would not be possible to discuss the issue at length in the meeting and voting would have to be done, after which the proposal was passed,” he said.
