BBMP may fall short of property tax target

As of January, the Palike has only collected Rs 680 crore as against the target of Rs 1,100 crore. With only three months more to achieve the target, BBMP is not sure how many more citizens will pay up in the next few months.

“Our aim is to achieve the target. We can only state whether there will be a shortfall in our collections at the end of the financial year,” Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), D L Chandrashekar said.

The much hyped revenue collection for the year 2008-09 was a dampener for the BBMP when it saw a shortfall of revenue to the tune of Rs 205 crore. This year the bar was expected to be raised with GPS assistance and regular door-to-door checks by the Assistant Revenue Officers (AROs). “The officials are doing a survey of all the properties in the City that are expected to pay. We are looking for the balance Rs 400 crore,” said Chandrashekar.

Meanwhile, 2.5 lakh notices have been issued to house owners for defaulting on the payments for the year 2008-09. “Of these, approximately 50,000 property owners have come forward and payed their dues. Some more are trickling in everyday,” said Chandrashekar.

The BBMP is still accepting delayed payments for the year 2009-10 with a surcharge of two percent as penalty. With the bulk of payments expected to come from residential properties, the BBMP is still trying to segregate the property wise collection from commercial sections.

Dependency
While the Palike is said to be not banking on the property tax receipts for funding its infrastructure projects, officials are hoping that it will help them to ‘match’ the funds for the ward level projects. However, only 60 percent of the works have been completed.