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.

The Hindu        27.03.2017  

NDMC bags top credit rating

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area is among the country’s top three as per a credit rating exercise undertaken by the Union Urban Development Ministry.

Along with Navi Mumbai and Pune, the NDMC area leads 94 cities in the country with a credit rating of AA+.

The credit ratings are necessary for issuing municipal bonds for mobilisation of resources.

Smart City Mission

Urban Development Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu reviewed the progress of credit rating of smart cities and AMRUT cities on Saturday, with 94 of the 500 cities included in the Smart City Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation AMRUT) obtaining the ratings.

A total of 55 of these cities have got ‘Investment Grade’ ratings, a Ministry spokesperson said.

Mr. Naidu noted that 59% of cities assessed getting investment grade rating were better than what was thought of about the financial situation of urban local bodies in the country.

The 94 cities that have so far been assigned credit ratings are spread across 14 States.

The Ministry of Urban Development is promoting credit rating of cities as one of the five transformational reforms under which about 500 cities and towns that account for about 65% of the total urban population were to be given credit ratings during this year.

Credit ratings are assigned based on assets and liabilities of urban local bodies, revenue streams, resources available for capital investments, double entry accounting practice and other governance practices, said the spokesperson.