Property Tax Going Up, Expect Budget Chaos

City corporation is set to hike rates by 20 per cent for homes and 25 for commercial establishments

BENGALURU: Your property tax is going up from next year. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will enforce revised rates across the city from April 2016.

The Taxation and Finance Committee has started the process to present the BBMP budget in time --before the end of March.

According to a draft notification issued by the BBMP under Section 108 (A)(16) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, rates go up by 20 per cent for residential properties and 25 per cent for non-residential properties with effect from April 1, 2016.

Under the Act, unit area rates must be revised by a minimum of 15 per cent and maximum of 30 per cent once in three years, but no revision has been done since 2008.

Every year, on an average, the BBMP collects Rs2,500 crore from property tax. This financial year, it has collected Rs1,800 crore.

“With the revision, BBMP expects Rs800 crore more from property tax alone,” BBMP Taxation and Finance Committee Chairman M Shivaraju told City Express.

A BBMP councillor elected on a Congress ticket said this year’s budget was heading for chaos.

“We are a coalition with the JD(S). They have just 14 members and three MLAs in the 198-member BBMP Council, but are demanding more allocations for their wards and constituencies. This is bound to annoy the ruling Congress,” he said.

‘We won’t present an Unrealistic Budget’

Shivaraju, Chairman of the Taxation Committee, said ground work was on to present the BBMP budget in time.

“The BJP dispensation never presented the budget as stipulated, but we are doing it in March right after the state budget,” he said.

He expects the BBMP Commissioner to produce a draft budget on or before January 15. “We won’t present a bloated budget like the BJP. It will be a realistic one not exceeding Rs7,000 crore,” he said.

Shivaraju said the emphasis would be on basic amenities. “We will also try to get back some mortgaged BBMP properties, such as the KR Market and the Jayanagar Shopping Complex,” he said.

Bounced cheques a worry

Shivaraju and his team are trying to tackle revenue loss. On Tuesday, they conducted a meeting at the East Zone, where they found officials had collected Rs336 crore against a target of Rs610 crore.

“We also found that 760 cheques for Rs1.62 crore had bounced in the last six years. We have asked our officials to mop up the amount on or before December 31, failing which the Assistant Revenue Officer will face action,” he said.

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