Advisor to the Chief Minister on Urban Affairs A Ravindra on Friday said except the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), no other urban local bodies (ULB) were keen to collect property tax.
Speaking at an interaction meeting at Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), he said about ten years ago, ULBs were mainly dependent on state government for grants.
“Later, when they started receiving grants from other sources like State Finance Commission, Chief Minister’s Grants, the ULBs started to become disinterested except the BBMP,” he said.
During 2011-12, property tax collected from all the ULBs was Rs 275 crore which is 18.36 per cent of the tax revenue expected.
Around 42 lakh properties are registered under all ULBs. This includes 16 lakh properties in BBMP limits, of which three lakh properties are not assessed. Of the 26 lakh properties other than BBMP, as many as 11 lakh properties are not assessed,” Ravindra said.
He said, during 2011-12, Mangalore City Corporation achieved a target of 22 per cent in property tax collection, while Udupi City Muncipal Council which had earlier acheived 95 per cent, came down to 40 per cent.
Hubli and Belgaum City Corporations have achieved 80 per cent target, he said. Sudhakar Shetty, owner of a stone crushing unit said there is scarcity of crushed stones in state. “We are getting crushed stones from Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” he said.