Increase house tax: Patil

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 9

UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil Patil asked the new MC team — Mayor Poonam Sharma, Senior Deputy Mayor Rajesh Kumar Gupta and Deputy Mayor Gurbax Rawat, to revise house tax rates in the city when they had gone to meet him seeking more powers for the MC.

Patil reportedly told the new team that the civic body always made demands from the Administration, but when it came to giving back something in the form of revenue or tax collection to the Administration, the MC never did so.

On the house tax issue, Patil said whenever the UT Administration sent letter to the MC to increase the house tax rates, the General House of the municipal corporation rejected the letter. Patil told the team that residents here had constructed bungalows worth of Rs 10 crore and were only paying Rs 500 annually as house tax ie. one per cent house tax was not acceptable, Patil said.

Patil also told the new team that if the MC would not revise the house tax rates then he would be forced to sign orders to revise the house tax rates. On Patil’s suggestion, the Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor, assured Patil that they would call a meeting of all-party councillors and would discuss the house tax issue with them.

In October last year, the General House of the MC had rejected the agenda to revise the house tax rates.

At present, annually, the tax on residential property is Re 1 per sq yard.

The MC was allegedly sitting over a draft report, prepared by a special committee of MC officials to increase the existing rates of house tax by 20 times.

In its recent report, the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission had also pulled up the UT Administration and the MC for its failure to revise the house tax rates.