Property tax, water and sewerage charges revised

VIJAYAWADA: The Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) department on Tuesday issued an order notifying the rules for levying and assessment of property tax based on capital value (CV) of the property as against the current system of annual rental value (ARV). On Monday, it issued an order hiking the sewerage user charges to make urban local bodies (ULBs) financially self-sufficient. 

According to the order (MS 198) issued by MAUD secretary J Syamala Rao on Tuesday, amendments were made through an Ordinance to change the system of levying property tax based on ARV to CV. “The percentage of property tax so fixed, shall not be less than 0.10% and not more than 0.50% of the Capital Value (CV) in the case of residential buildings and shall not be less than 0.20% and not more than 2% of the Capital Value (CV) in the case of non-residential buildings, which shall be effected from Financial Year 2021-22,” the order said.

While the department said the changes in water supply user charges were made to “ensure they are fair and not regressive” as it noticed an “abnormal” hike, it added that sewerage charges were revised to make ULBs financially self sufficient. The water tariff was suggested to be between Rs 100 and Rs 350 per month for households (domestic), while for bulk, commercial and industrial users its is between Rs 40 and Rs 140 per kilolitre.

The Andhra Pradesh Urban Citizens Federation (APUCF) opposed the government’s decisions and demanded that they be scrapped. The decision to move to CV-based tax assessment would burden the public as property tax may go up by 10 times, according to APUCF convenor Ch Babu Rao. “The capital value also changes annually, further burdening people, as the stamps and registrations department hikes the rates every year,” Babu Rao asserted. The APUCF criticised the State government’s move, saying States such as Telangana announced a 50 per cent reduction in the property tax this year taking into consideration the Covid-19 crisis.

“What was the need for the State to hastily and unilaterally bring in an ordinance without any discussion in the Assembly? Both the State and the Centre are only burdening the public. The State planned to immediately burden the public from April 1, 2021, immediately after the local body elections. These decisions need to be rolled back immediately,” the Federation said.

APUCF demands that changes be rolled back
The AP Urban Citizens Federation (APUCF) opposed the government’s decisions and demanded that they be scrapped. The decision to move to CV-based tax assessment would burden the public as property tax may go up by 10 times, said APUCF convenor Ch Babu Rao