Aurangabad: The local civic body on Sunday initiated the two-day-long public hearings to resolve grievances related to property tax, particularly the amount paid by citizens and establishments. The measure, which aims to improve recovery during the ongoing special drive, evoked considerable response on the first day.While the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has intensified measures for tax recovery, a large section of stakeholders had pressed the need for holding such hearing to resolve disputes related to charging of property tax, which have turned into a major hurdle in the recovery.Mahaveer Patni, tax assessor and collector for the local civic body, said commercial establishments are involved in a major chunk of disputes related to charging of property tax.“The disputes involve an alleged excess charge of property tax, objections related to levying a particular amount of penalty or interest, along with cases that are pending before different courts. The two-day public hearings is expected to see an amicable end to many of these disputes, clearing the roadblock in the tax recovery process,” Patni said.AMC authorities have also appealed to tax payers that they should present their say in case of an objectionable tax, if any, during the public hearings instead of knocking the doors of the judiciary.As reported by TOI, a section of educational groups, hospitals and owners of mobile towers have already spoken out about their differences with AMC over payment of general tax owing to their registration with the office of Charity Commissioner.Notably, earlier in February, a group of corporators had pressed the need to conduct such public hearings in order to resolve property tax-related grievances. A memorandum to this effect was also submitted before the local civic body, but no such measure was adopted until the end of last fiscal.Congress leader Rajendra Dehade said establishments at large are ready to pay the tax if a fair assessment is undertaken. “The scope of the latest public hearings is confined to property tax alone. We demand that the disputes related to water tax be taken into account in order to improve the overall tax recovery,” he said.The local civic body had managed to achieve only a minuscule 12% tax collection as against the set target of Rs390 crore towards property tax by the end of the last financial year. It has set the recovery target at Rs450 crore this year. Nearly 14% tax recovery has been completed until a day before the end of the special drive on Monday. As per rules, a special civic panel has been in place at the level of AMC, which is looking after grievances related to property tax.

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