Open house: MC teams should collect property tax from doorstep

divide city into various zones

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To collect property tax efficiently, Ludhiana city must be divided into zones, and each zone must be further divided into wards. Municipal councillors must designate officials in each ward to collect the tax. A team must visit each house under its jurisdiction to collect property tax so that defaulters remain under the scanner of the MC. Notices should be issued to all defaulters. The MC should also disconnect civic amenities such as electricity for these people. Residents should be allowed to extend their house’s entry up to a minimum prescribed limit beyond which they must be fined. MC officials must keep a check on residents who do not deposit property tax and publish a list of their names in newspapers.

Dr Mohd Saleem Farooqui

make judicious use

of resources

Ludhiana is the biggest, largest, and richest civic body in the state, in terms of area, population, and budget, yet it has been facing fiscal ill-health despite having an annual budget of almost Rs 1,000 crore. At a time when civic body officials are boasting about good revenue generation from property tax collections, unlike previous years, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation is far from achieving its revenue targets from different heads, with just two months left in the financial year. Though the MC possesses a heavy budget, it has many problems, such as rising population, increased migration of labourers, industrial and vehicular pollution, indiscipline among residents, encroachments, unregulated illegal development of colonies, and a lack of safe drinking water, among others. To augment fiscal health, the MC needs an efficient system for tax collection and penalties and judicious use of available resources. The MC should collect dues efficiently, urge officials to imbibe honesty, award honest employees and taxpayers, spread awareness among residents etc.

Sukhdev Sharma, Machhiwara

Ensure equitable taxation for properties

A multi-pronged approach is required to improve tax collection and improve the fiscal health of the state’s wealthiest civic body. Firstly, an improvement is the collection of property taxes is imperative. This involves a property tax reassessment based on current market values to ensure equitable taxation across all property types. It is critical to implement a strong property tax database with accurate records, as well as to use technology to collect and manage taxes efficiently. Second, looking into new revenue streams is critical. This could include looking into options such as user fees for municipal services, leveraging public-private partnerships for infrastructure development and income generation, and investigating the possibility of levying taxes on luxury items or services inside the local authority.

Tamanpreet Kaur Khangura

Issue legal notices to tax defaulters

The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation needs to adopt a number of revenue-boosting measures to augment tax collection. The civic body saw a decline of approximately Rs 44 crore in revenue collection during the 2023-24 financial year, compared to the previous fiscal year. A major drop was witnessed on VAT/GST and the reduced collection of water supply bills. Over 25,000 property owners failed to deposit their property tax in the past year. The MC also failed to recover pending rent amounts for many of its properties rented during the last two-three years. The recovery of the ‘building regularisation fee,’ ‘composition fee,’ and ‘change of land use fee’ is also pending in a number of cases. These defaulters are now subject to more penalties and penal interest. With an aim to generate the maximum income, the Ludhiana MC should issue legal notices to defaulters for the recovery of the amounts in arrears along with the amounts of taxes falling due for the current year within a fixed period, and if they still don’t pay up, their properties should be attached and put to sale as per the law for the recovery of the dues. A one-time settlement scheme for chronic defaulters may be announced, wherein some rebates like waivers of penalties and penal interest can be provided to them. The other revenue-related measures include increasing the charges for death and birth certificates, increasing monthly rent for Verka or other booths, and increasing the right-of-way charges for private cellular or telecom companies to regulate underground infrastructure.

RS SEMBHI

Councillor should ensure residents pay

An MC team must visit the owners of properties who do not deposit tax, and their bank accounts must be attached to the corporation’s main accounts so the tax can be auto-debited. They must be given some time to pay up, after which they should be punished. Officials of the MC must collect property tax from the doorsteps of each defaulter, and it should be the duty of the councillor to ensure residents from their ward pay taxes. Officials of the corporation must keep a check on the use of electricity and water supply, and if anybody is caught using it illegally, they must be fined. Residents also must cooperate with the local government.

Farzana Khan

Spread awareness among public

To augment tax collection and improve fiscal health, the municipal corporation needs to spread public awareness and create easy platforms for paying taxes, in addition to introducing other initiatives. Using data analytics can be particularly helpful in identifying potential taxpayers and areas where tax collection is lagging. Offering bonuses to encourage early or full payment of taxes should be employed by the MC officials. Educating people by explaining the importance of taxes and how they are used for community benefits is crucial. Online platforms for easy tax payment should also be developed in order to improve the efficiency of tax collection. These measures alone may not be sufficient to improve the MC’s fiscal health, but implementing them would be a start.

Japleen Kaur

Civic body should ask govt for funds

The municipal corporation must augment its financial resources for providing improved civic facilities to citizens. The corporation depends mainly on taxes to sustain itself, but since the cost of living is rising, it is not possible for people to pay any more taxes. It is therefore essential for the corporation to request the government for more funds to improve finances. This will enable the corporation to provide improved facilities to citizens.

Gautam Dev

OPTIMISE CURRENT

TAX COLLECTION

The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, which oversees local governance, infrastructure, and public services, relies on a variety of revenue streams to fund its operations. These funds are typically derived from property taxes, water and sewerage fees, and other local revenue streams. Unfortunately, despite having an annual budget of Rs 1,000 crore, it has been struggling to meet its budgetary needs due to limited tax bases, inefficient revenue collection systems, and a lack of innovation in monetising available resources. The need of the hour is to increase revenue through a comprehensive strategy that includes optimising current tax collections, diversifying revenue sources, embracing technology, leveraging public-private partnerships, and making better use of public resources. The MC should reclassify areas under its jurisdiction to broaden its reach. Furthermore, given that the MC provides some essential services such as waste collection at subsidised or no cost, service fee adjustments must be made.

Novin Christopher