CHENNAI: Despite revising the property tax after 24 years for core areas and 14 years for extended areas, the estimated property tax revenue for the year 2022-2023 was pegged at a tepid Rs 800 crore in the city corporation budget.
Last year, the city corporation had collected Rs 780 crore in property tax, according to senior corporation officials - only Rs 20 crore less than the estimated revenue this year. The city corporation's revenue deficit estimate has been increasing in the past few years and was estimated to be Rs 788.58 crore for 2022-23. Property tax is the main source of revenue for the city corporation.
Following the corporation budget, the council resolution for the gazette notification of the revised property tax rates was passed.When asked why the estimated property tax revenue had not gone up after the tax revision, senior corporation officials said that they had factored in the delay for the revision to take effect.
"The council resolution for the gazette notification has been passed and is expected to be done next week. Following that, there is a 30-day statutory period for objections and suggestions and then, a final resolution will be passed. Only then will the revision come into effect," a senior corporation official told The New Indian Express.
However, in the revised property tax estimates, the number is expected to go up by Rs 500-Rs 600 crore, according to corporation sources.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, the Finance and Taxation Standing Committee chairperson Sarbajaya Das said the estimated revenue was pegged at Rs 800 crore and not any higher because the revised tax rates were fixed in a way that did not affect economically-backward households.