COIMBATORE: Several councillors in the monthly council meeting organized at the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation’s (CCMC) Victoria Hall on Saturday raised objections against the zonation of the areas for fixing taxes on new buildings in the city. Around 57 of the 58 proposed resolutions were passed in the meeting, including the zonation of areas for levying taxes on new buildings that are to be constructed across the city.
The revenue department of the CCMC has split all the areas in the 100 wards of the five zones in the city into four tax zones, namely A, B, C and D. “People who are set to build houses in those four different zones will be levied taxes accordingly,” said the revenue officials.
The civic body had already prepared a list of all the areas in the city and handed over the document to the council members for their approval and implementation the zonation of taxes in the city. However, a majority of the councillors raised objections as they were not discussed before the classification of the areas in these zones.
The council members demanded to discuss the matter in detail and urged the mayor and commissioner to postpone the resolution and alleged that they were not consulted about the earmarking of the areas in their respective wards. However, CCMC Commissioner M Prathap asked the councillors to submit their objections in a written format which would be sent to the government.
“The mayor passed the zonation of taxes resolution, as numerous new buildings are yet to be assessed under the new tax system and are yet to pay their taxes. CCMC is the only municipal corporation in the state which is yet to implement zone-wise taxation for a long time,” Prathap said. Zone ‘A’ is identified as the areas that have predominant roads including the National Highways (NH) where mofussil and town buses are operated.
Zone ‘B’ is identified as the arterial roads and areas that connect with the areas of zone A. While Zone ‘C’ is identified as residential areas that are located in the interior parts of zone B, the slum areas and added areas which lack basic amenities fall under Zone ‘D’.