Chennai: Among the existing problems, the issue of property tax hike has been a long-pending one for residents of Chrompet since the past several years.
According to sources, it is alleged that the Pallavaram Municipality has breached many rules with respect to the tax, even as people are appealing officials to fix the issue.
Speaking to News Today, Federation of Civic and Welfare Association of Pallavapuram (FCWAP) secretary Murugaiyan C alleged, The order states that the Municipality can only tax 25 per cent in addition to the existing charges, but they have revised the tax up to 1,900 per cent.
In addition to the exorbitant price revision, the authorities failed to issue us a notification and also half-yearly arrear charges were slapped on us. As per their records, every one of us owed around Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 as pending amount. We staged a protest regarding the same, handed our complaints to the Collector, later which the arrear was withdrawn, he added.
Nevertheless, the revision has still not been disavowed and the residents have been in a fix since then. In June 2018, GO No. 73 was passed which states that the tax for residential buildings can only be hiked up to 50 and 100 per cent for commercial set-ups, as against the previous G.O., which is in effect from 1 April, 2018.
Our demand is that we want the authorities to comply by GO 73 order and reconsider their decision. However, we have not been assured this way, he added.Residents also felt that the Municipality is grappling to run the administration without funds. As the local body elections have been halted for more than two years, it was learnt that the funds have not been provided to the authorities of any local body.
The law allows the civic body to hike the property tax and use the collected money to manage the needs of the areas development, he stated. Pallavaram Municipality officials were not available to comment on the issue.
| WHAT DOES THE ORDER SAY |
| As per the government order (GO) No. 150, it has been stated that the property tax can be revised up to only 25 per cent for residential structures, 100 per cent for industries and 150 per cent for commercial buildings. The order also further clarifies that the owner can avail discount depending on several criteria fixed by the State government. It has to be noted that the order also instructs the Municipality to issue a notification regarding the price revision to the residents who come under the purview of Municipal administration. |