The end of the financial year is 20 days away and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is hard-pressed to achieve the property tax goal it set for the year. The civic body has collected Rs 3,957 crore against the target of Rs 5,206 crore. In other words, BMC is yet to collect 25 per cent of the total property tax it had intended to collect.

Property tax is the largest source of revenue for the BMC after octroi was abolished and replaced with the GST. BMC's target of Rs 5,206 crore in property tax for the financial year 2018-19 is equal to 22 per cent of its total revenue. The assessment and collection department of the BMC had collected Rs 3,525 crore till January end and has managed to add only Rs 432 crore up till now.

"A slow down in the real estate market and changes in share and premium rates of fungible FSI have lead to a decrease in property tax and Development Plan (DP) department collection," explained Ajoy Mehta, commissioner of the BMC in his budget speech.

BMC officers are on their toes to complete the target. The only silver lining for BMC officials is that they have collected Rs 100 crore more than what they collected in the last financial year. "Last year we managed to collect Rs 3,859 crore, this year we are ahead. Many citizens pay property tax towards the end of the financial year," said an officer from the BMC. Last year, the municipal corporation had collected Rs 350 crore on March 31 itself.

The other issue being faced in property tax collection is disputed amounts. An amount of Rs 10 thousand crores is stuck in various dispute cases in court. "We are taking stringent action against defaulters. In the last week, we have disconnected the water supply for several homes."

The state government waived property tax for houses up to 500 sq feet, which is Rs 350 crore less in BMC's kitty. On the other hand, its expenditure will increase due to the seventh pay commission and projects such as the coastal road, sewerage treatment plants, Goregaon-Mulund link road, upgrading of hospitals, etc. As per the budget 2019-20, BMC will withdraw Rs 5,651 crore from the reserve fund for mega projects. In budget 2018-19, BMC withdrew Rs 2,619 crore from the reserve fund.