CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday said his government did not hike the property tax willingly, but it was done to garner funds to develop local bodies. "I appeal to the Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, and leaders of all political parties in the State Assembly not to play politics over the issue," he said.
Stalin said this while responding to the discussion on a special mention regarding the property tax hike raised by all political parties in the House.
Recalling that funds from the Union government did not reach the local bodies since elections were not held, and as a result, all developmental works had been stalled, he said local bodies faced difficulties in carrying out day-to-day work for the people.
"Now, representatives have been elected from all political parties, and they expect funds from the government. So, the property tax has been hiked without affecting the poor and middle classes. This hike will not affect about 83 per cent of people in a big way. So I appeal to MLAs cutting across party lines to stand by the government on this issue since the hike was effected to execute welfare and development schemes," the chief minister said.
Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru said that 83 per cent of people would witness a 25-50 per cent tax hike, and poor and middle-class families would not be affected. He also reiterated that the hike was effected based on a recommendation from the 15th Finance Commission, and was necessary to get funds from the Union government for local bodies.
He added that the previous AIADMK government hiked the property tax in 2018, and with an eye on the elections, stopped it in 2019. He also referred to how successive AIADMK governments hiked the property tax steeply. Despite the present hike, property tax in Tamil Nadu is less than in other States, he said.
Raising the issue, Palaniswami said the hike in property tax would be a big burden, considering that people are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic. He said the government should immediately roll back the hike, and referred to the DMK’s electoral promise that property tax would not be hiked until people get over the impact of the pandemic.
While K Selvaperunthagai (Congress) and ER Eswaran (KMDK) said the government should reduce the tax hike, BJP floor leader Nainar Nagendran said it should be withdrawn. Nagendran suggested that the tax be hiked by a fixed amount every five years so people would not feel the burden all of a sudden.
PMK's GK Mani, CPI's Thalli T Ramachandran, CPM's Nagai Mali, MMK's MH Jawahirullah, and Puratchi Bharatham's Poovai Jeganmurthy too urged the government to roll back the hike. After the chief minister’s reply, Palaniswami led the AIADMK MLAs into a walkout protesting the government’s refusal to roll back the tax hike. Nagenthran too led his party colleagues in a walkout.