TIRUCHY: The corporation’s door-to-door collection drive and stringent action on tax defaulters have helped it achieve a better track record in revenue collection among the city municipal corporations in the State, excluding Greater Chennai Corporation, this financial year.
According to official data, the civic body has till December 7, 2023 collected Rs 119.08 crore, which translates to 39.84% of its total revenue target of Rs 298.86 crore for FY23. As per data released by the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration, Tiruchy corporation has pending revenue to the tune of Rs 127.32 crore from over the years.
It is expected to further net revenue of Rs 171.54 crore in the current financial year alone. Thus of the total revenue target of Rs 298.86 crore -- which includes the arrears -- that it has to collect by March 2023, the civic body has so far netted Rs 119.08 crore. Of this, Rs 84.38 lakh was part of the current year’s exclusive target, accounting for 49.19%.
The remaining Rs 34.70 lakh was collected as part of the arrears. Tambaram corporation stands second in revenue collection by collecting 37.80% of its revenue. According to officials, Tambaram corporation has pending revenue of Rs 68.55 crore and is expected to net a further Rs 147.75 crore this financial year.
Of the total Rs 216.30 crore, it has so far recovered about Rs 81.75 crore. Sivakasi corporation comes third by collecting about 37.51% of its Rs 27.18-crore target for FY23. It has netted Rs 10.19 crore so far. On Tiruchy corporation’s track record, an official said, "Our tax collectors regularly visit residents and commercial establishments for revenue collection.
The daily collection records of each zone are also assessed by senior officials and the corporation commissioner on a regular basis. We have also started putting up posters on buildings of major property tax defaulters. All these have helped us improve revenue collection." Pointing out that the track record of corporations is prone to change anytime, senior officials said that the Tiruchy civic body team is trying its best to meet its revenue collection target at the earliest.