The corporation has initiated a slew of measures for improving its revenue collection and financial health, Deputy Mayor B. Bhadra has said.
She was replying to the debate on the fiscal health of the local body at a special meeting held on Tuesday. Ms. Bhadra, who is also the chairperson of the Finance Standing Committee of the corporation, said the local body was going ahead with stern measures for collecting dues including the property tax.
Taking a dig at some of her colleagues in the civic administration, Ms. Bhadra said no one should come in the way of the Finance Committee when it initiates steps against tax defaulters including revenue recovery measures.
The civic body has initiated revenue recovery measures in a number of cases. The Revenue Inspectors of the corporation have been deputed to track down cases of change of purpose of buildings (conversion of residential buildings into commercial ones without obtaining the permission from the local body) and to reassess the building tax accordingly. The drive against illegal constructions initiated earlier had yielded additional income to the tune of Rs.3.75 crore, she said.
The mobile towers and generators have been brought under the tax net and the deposit amount for the exchange of shops was revised leading to additional revenue generation. The support of all the Standing Committees was required for effectively implementing the revenue generation drives. The corporation should revise the licence fee, which was fixed way back in 1994. Preliminary works for assessing the rent of shops based on plinth area has also been initiated, she informed the council.
As part of the austerity measures, the Deputy Mayor suggested that a committee headed by the Mayor should monitor the maintenance, repair and modification works of the solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram. The number of public water taps in the city should be enumerated as the corporation had been paying a considerable amount to the Kerala Water Authority as water charges, Ms. Bhadra said.
