The Hindu          24.10.2014 

Property tax: old city areas may pay more

With the Chennai Corporation considering a proposal to
revise property tax rates on the basis of current guideline values,
residents wonder what the impact on their expenses will be.

Some
neighbourhoods in the recently-added areas of the Chennai Corporation
pay the same property tax as those in well-developed areas such as T.
Nagar that fetch high rental values, experts said, pointing to
anomalies.

Residents of such neighbourhoods with low
guideline value pay the same amount of property tax as neighbourhoods
with high guideline values every half year.

A chunk
of the 11 lakh residential and commercial properties which have
relatively lower property tax rates are within the old city limits. The
civic body will map all such roads to asses the loss of revenue because
of the existing system. Based on a study, the civic body will
rationalise and revise property tax rates.

Property
tax is around 30 per cent of the total revenue of the civic body. The
increase in property tax collection is likely to result in a rise in per
capita capital expenditure. Chennai spends less than Rs. 2,000 per
resident, much lower compared to developed cities.

A
chunk of the 11 lakh residential and commercial properties which have
relatively lower tax rates are within the old city limits