Civic admin rejects GBrsquos decision to roll back property tax hike

  • | Saturday | 21st July, 2018

The general body curtailed the tax hike of at least 40% proposed by the administration to 18%. If no one has appealed, then the municipal commissioner has the right to declare the hike in property tax. However, the notification was not published as the corporators were undecided.“The NMC gets its revenue from property tax, GST, service tax, hoarding, grants, etc. Rule number 7, sub-section 1, states that the municipal commissioner has the right to fix the rateable value for property tax. CLEARED SKHERNashik: The property tax hike continues to be a contentious issue between the civic administration and the elected representatives in Nashik.On Saturday, the civic administration said it would not accept the resolution passed by the Nashik Municipal Corporation’s general body earlier in the week that rolled back the property tax hike.

CLEARED SKHERNashik: The property tax hike continues to be a contentious issue between the civic administration and the elected representatives in Nashik.On Saturday, the civic administration said it would not accept the resolution passed by the Nashik Municipal Corporation’s general body earlier in the week that rolled back the property tax hike. The general body curtailed the tax hike of at least 40% proposed by the administration to 18%. Also, farmlands were given respite by the general body.Civic chief Tukaram Mundhe said that the resolution of the general body was “null and void” because the municipal commissioner has the right to fix the tax rate. He added that he would take appropriate decision about the tax structure after he receives a copy of resolution passed by the general body.Mundhe quoted a high court order of 1996 that clearly mentions that every land is taxable. Moreover, he was not allowed to speak during the general body meeting when the discussion on tax hike went on till midnight.“Under the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1950, chapter 8 sub-section 2, 3 and 4 are regarding taxation rule. Rule number 7, sub-section 1, states that the municipal commissioner has the right to fix the rateable value for property tax. If no one has appealed, then the municipal commissioner has the right to declare the hike in property tax. The municipal commissioner has to declare the tax rate year-on-year basis before March 31. Hence, the resolution made by the general body is wrong and illegal,” he said.He added that the tax is on the land and not for agriculture. “The commissioner has to decide whether or not to implement the resolution. When the resolution comes to me, I will take appropriate decision. They can go to the state government and prove that my decision is wrong. Then, I will withdraw the hike. Till then, the hike decided by me will be implemented,” he added.The civic chief added that the corporators had approached him in the past and he had reduced the tax on agriculture land in yellow zone from 40% to 20%. However, the notification was not published as the corporators were undecided.“The NMC gets its revenue from property tax, GST, service tax, hoarding, grants, etc. I studied the issue and decided that 10% hike in the rateable value was needed. I am comparing Nashik with Navi Mumbai, PCMC, Thane because it is a B-class city and these cities are more developed. We have done what is necessary for economic growth, infrastructure, ease of service and ease of business in the city,” Mundhe said.The civic chief said that agreement of 1,731 NMC shops came to an end on March 31, 2015. In 2016, it was decided that rent should be charged from shops as per ready reckoner rates.“The corporators asked us not to take action against shops. We eliminated this too. Out of 903 gyms, community halls, libraries, 729 are operating without licence. They want lesser rates to be charged. Corporators proposed 2.5% ready reckoner for shops, but now, they don’t want any action. They don’t want to hike the tax. Where will the administration get revenue? We cannot neglect the revenue when expenditure is increasing,” he said.He added that there was a need to hike property tax, the rates of which have not been changed since 1991. In 2014-15, the NMC received revenue of Rs 2,011 crore, in 2015-16, it dropped to Rs 1,063 crore. In the following year, the revenue collection was Rs 1,080 crore and in 2017-18, it was Rs 1,200 crore. This financial year, the revenue target is Rs 1785 crore.“The general body raised the revenue target to more than Rs 2,000 crore. From where will this money come? We got only Rs 76.65 crore from property tax, Rs 126 crore from town planning department, Rs 48 crore from water tax, Rs 86 crore from miscellaneous tax and so on,” Mundhe said.Political leaders refused to speak on the administration’s decision on Saturday, but the leaders have in the past met the chief minister, seeking his intervention in the matter. The chief minister heads the urban development department under which all municipal bodies in the state function. They had raised the matter with the guardian minister Girish Mahajan during a review meeting last Saturday.

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