Bhavnagar
Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities said the new system be enforced
from this financial year. It is part of the reform agenda to have a
uniform tax assessment system across the state.

Deputy
municipal commissioner Dilip Dave said BMC carried out a survey of
2,17,000 properties between 2006 and 2008 before it decided to switch
over to the new system.

“All these properties will be issued
special notices-cum-bills on the basis of carpet-area assessment. With a
view to help taxpayers, an arrangement has been made to appoint 20
appellate officers who will consider objections and suggestions and will
dispose off cases at the earliest. If the taxpayer has no objection to
the property assessment, he or she can pay the tax straightaway,” he
said.

Bhavnagar will be the seventh municipal corporation to
adopt this system of tax assessment. Except Rajkot, all municipal
corporations in Gujarat have adopted carpet area based evaluation of
property tax.

BMC sources said during 2012-13 they collected
about Rs 32 crore as property tax and with the new assessment system the
target for the current financial year is Rs 40 crore.

“BMC has
also made an arrangement to send notices of assessment through special
messengers and not by couriers or the postal service,” an official said.