Sluggish property tax collection puts local bodies in a fix

RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: Though local bodies in East Godavari were expecting property tax collection of `142.49 crore for the year 2018-19, they were able to collect only 41.24% of the said amount till February 7. 

In this regard, Municipal Administration Regional Director Nagaraju  conducted a teleconference with officials of civic bodies last week and instructed them to speed up the tax collection process. 
Ordering them to initiate action against the defaulters, he asked the officials to ensure 100 per cent tax collection by end of March and to create awareness among the public about the 
importance of property tax payment.  

While there are 2,50,071 assessments across the district from which `142.49 crore is expected as property tax, only `58.77 crore of the amount was collected till February 7. The civic bodies should issue demand notices to the assessees by March 31. However, these notices were issued between April and May last year.   

According to the official, the district lagged behind Krishna district when it came to property tax collection. 

The authorities are extending a facility to pay the levy in two installments. 
However, if an assessee pays the levy in April itself, he will get a 5 per cent rebate and, if the payment is made beyond deadline, a 2 per cent penalty will be imposed.  

37 per cent of target met in West Godavari
Eluru: Despite the current financial year is nearing its end, property tax collection in West Godavari is much below the target. Sources in the know said while 40.36 per cent of the target was achieved in urban areas, a meagre 37.54 per cent was collected in rural areas.  From  1,89,124 assessments in the district, the civic bodies had aimed to collect `114.19 crore towards property tax, but were only able to collect `42.24 crore.  Kovvuru municipality stood in top of the list in the district with 67 per cent property tax collection. However, Eluru Municipal Corporation is lagging behind with a meagre 32.60 per cent collection from 41,730 assessments.  Lack of sufficient panchayat secretaries and bill collectors is said to be the reason. Meanwhile, Collector Pravin Kumar, in a recent review meeting, expressed dissatisfaction over the poor collection of tax.