Two tax proposals gathering dust for 4 years

VADODARA: Cash-strapped Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is desperately looking to raise its revenue base. However, there are sources of a couple of taxes that have already been put before the elected wing but are only gathering dust for the last four years.
The proposals pertain to vacant land tax and the streetlight tax. Both the tax proposals have been discussed by the civic body in 2013 and have met with the same fate. The elected wing of the civic body does not seem to be in a mood to discuss these.

While the streetlight tax may not find favour with a large majority of persons as it will burden the common man, there is no clarity on why the vacant land tax has not been cleared. While these were taken up by the VMC in 2013, they have been cleared by the state government much earlier.

Sources said that other municipal corporations in the state had been charging vacant land tax. The VMC had proposed to introduce this in 2013 with retrospective effect from 2011. It had even invited objections and a proposal with the objections was placed before the standing committee that forwarded the matter to the general board in March 2013. Since then, the proposal has been lying with the civic body with no development.

The streetlight tax was given an interim nod by the state government in 2003. It was after a decade in 2013 that the VMC administration proposed to impose this. Much like the vacant land tax, the civic body invited objections and a proposal was then prepared. The proposal is still undecided and pending with the general board.

An official in the civic body said that the issue of vacant land tax was even discussed in the pre-budget meetings of the administration even this year. “The elected wing needs to take a call,” said an official.