Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Target of Rs. 750 cr. property tax fixed

HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has set itself a high target of Rs. 750 crore property tax for the financial year of 2008-09. Commissioner and Special Officer S.P. Singh asserts that it is possible without resorting to any hike considering the constructions spree in the twin cities.

Pointing out that several new buildings have come up for new assessments, Mr. Singh has directed the Deputy Commissioners of all 18 municipal circles to also identify the hitherto unassessed and under assessed properties to ensure better tax compliance. The revenue thus gathered will only be used for providing better civic infrastructure, he said.

The Municipal Corporation has expressed its resolve to book top defaulters although it has been unable to do anything on this front over the years. Presiding over a full-fledged meeting with senior officials on Wednesday, Mr. Singh fixed targets under different heads for generating revenues.

A four-member committee led by Additional Commissioner (Planning & Projects) K. Dhananjaya Reddy and with Additional Commissioner (Finance) B. Ramesh Babu and Zonal Commissioners Ramnarayan Reddy and Anuradha has been formed to suggest steps to achieve the targets.

Mr. Babu said property tax was the main revenue earner for the civic body and the number of taxpayers had gone up from 10.46 lakh in March 2008 to 10.83 lakh last month. During the last financial year, property tax collected was to the tune of Rs. 322 crore against the target of Rs. 350 crore.

The Commissioner was apparently not very happy with revenue collection from rents and leases as it was just Rs. 6.62 crore last year. This year, he wants the collection to go up by Rs. 30 crore at least.

The target for advertisement revenue is put at Rs. 70 crore (Rs. 14.58 crore last year), building permission fee collection at Rs. 250 crore (Rs. 118 crore) and trade licences at Rs. 50 crore (Rs. 9.89 crore).

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