NALGONDA: Nalgonda municipal authorities are all set to take stringent measures to recover long-pending property tax dues. Officials with the support of electricity and water supply departments, will cut power and water connection to commercial and residential property owners whose tax dues exceed Rs 50,000.
Additionally, announcement by drummers in front of the residences of tax defaulters is being planned so that they would clear the dues to escape from public shame. A similar method implemented in Miryalaguda town proved effective as the civic body reportedly collected Rs 27 lakh in one day on Saturday.
The Nalgonda municipality has already issued ‘red notices’ to 1,200 defaulters who owe more than Rs 50,000 in taxes each. While some have responded, others have ignored them. As a result, the authorities plan to issue notices to tenants of these properties as well to warn them of the consequences they will face due to tax default by their landlords.
Nalgonda municipality, comprising 48 wards, has 36,150 residential and 3,481 commercial properties. The annual tax revenue expected from both commercial and residential properties is around Rs 16.62 crore, but the outstanding dues, including penalties, have mounted to Rs 48.41 crore. So far, the civic body has collected only Rs 12 crore. While most of the people have paid current year’s taxes, arrears remain unpaid.
To speed up the recovery, officials have mandated the property owners to pay 50% of the tax dues immediately and the remaining 50% by March 31.
A municipal official warned that they would not leave the premises until partial payment was made.
To achieve 100% tax collection by March-end, the municipality has deployed 16 special teams, with municipal officials, the commissioner, RDO and tahsildars actively involved in the efforts. The district collector is also expected to conduct inspections to ensure faster tax recovery.
Apart from earning revenue from these properties, Nalgonda municipality should get Rs 88.5 crore from 96 Union government and 300 state government offices in the town. However, it has received only Rs 4 crore from this source so far.
Political pressure
As municipal authorities have intensified the efforts to collect taxes from commercial properties, the owners are reportedly pressuring local councillors to intervene and extend the deadline for tax collection by two to three months.
With municipal elections due soon, former councillors are allegedly pressuring municipal officials to delay tax collection.
However, municipal commissioner Syed Mustafa Ahmad has stated that officials are working under strict instructions to achieve 100% tax collection by March-end and will not succumb to any political pressure.