The Hindu   08.08.2012

State preparing to increase property tax, says MGP

The Mysore Grahakara Parishat has said the State government is preparing the ground for increasing property tax in cities, including Mysore, with the amendment to the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act by a gazette notification (dated 28 April 2012).

“It is surprising that this amendment has drawn little attention in general,” it said in a press release here.

Maximum limit raised

Before the amendment, the maximum rate of property tax that could be levied by the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) on commercial properties was two per cent of the total capital value of the property. “The amendment increases it to three per cent,” maintains B.S. Vanishree of the MGP.

Similarly, the amendment increases the maximum rate of property tax on vacant land less than 1,000 sq. m from 0.2 per cent to 0.5 per cent, vacant land between 1,000 sq. m and 4,000 sq. m from 0.05 per cent to 0.1 per cent (an increase of 100 per cent) and vacant land over 4,000 sq. m from 0.02 per cent to 0.1 per cent. There is no change in the property tax rates for sites on which residential and industrial buildings exist, Ms. Vanishree said in the release.

According to the release, the gazette notification also permits city corporations to exempt ex-servicemen and families of deceased soldiers from paying 50 per cent of the property tax, but the MCC has not passed a resolution on the matter yet.

Rainwater harvesting

“It also mandates rainwater harvesting for all existing buildings built on a site larger than 2,400 sq. ft and on all proposed buildings on sites larger than 1,200 sq. ft,” Ms. Vanishree explained.

“It is surprising that using non-metric units has been prohibited by law since 1962, but the amendment still speaks of square feet,” Ms. Vanishree said in the release.

The Indian Express  02.08.2012

RTI: Property tax defaulters owe PCMC Rs 400-crore dues

Madigiris seek action against property tax department

An RTI query filed by two BJP corporators has revealed that 70,000 property holders in Pimpri-Chinchwad have not paid property tax dues, collectively pegged at over Rs 407 crore. And the dues have been pending for over 10 years.

The information was given by Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) property tax department in response to an RTI query by BJP corporator Varsha Madigeri and her husband Vilas Madigeri, vice-president, Pimpri-Chinchwad unit of BJP. Based on the RTI reply, Madigeris have demanded action against errant officials for what they called as “loss” caused by them through their inaction.

There are 2.96 lakh properties in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Of these, 2.43 lakh are residential and the remaining are commercial. The RTI reply reveals 39 defaulters have dues of over Rs 50 lakh each, with collective arrears pegged at Rs 146.18 crore. Over 62,000 defaulters owe PCMC dues ranging from Rs 5,000 to 50,000. Their total arrears amount to Rs 113.65 crore.

Madigiri said 44 defaulters have not paid taxes in the range of Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh each. Their total dues amount to Rs 14.73 crore.

As many as 136 defaulters have dues in the range of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 25 lakh, totalling Rs 20.47 crore; 256 defaulters owe Rs 5 to Rs 10 lakh each; 3,183 owe Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh; 4,760 defaulters owe Rs 50,000 to 1 lakh each.

Vilas said the arrears should be recovered without giving any concession. An inquiry should be conducted against the defaulting companies that have closed down.

Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi said the arrears are not in the range of Rs 407 crore, but around Rs 300 crore. “Property tax to be collected for 2012-13 too has been shown as outstanding which is not correct.”

Assistant Municipal Commissioner Shahji Pawar also said the amount was not Rs 407 crore, but has come down. “The government has given us a waiver of Rs 54 crore besides a court verdict for Rs 70 crore has gone against us. And Rs 32 crore has been recovered,” he said. Pawar said the total arrears till March 31, 2012, could be around Rs 300.

He added, “We are taking legal opinion and working on the recovery.”