Majority of the staff in the Revenue wing of GVMC went without salaries for November as property tax arrears piled up to Rs.110 crore.
Of the 126 staff only 24 were able to meet the target and for those who failed to do so, payment of salaries for November was stopped. According to Municipal Commissioner B. Ramanjaneyulu, the staff had even failed to serve notices on top 25 defaulters on non-resident (commercial) tax payment in each zone for which salaries have been stopped. The defaulters owe above Rs.5 lakh. He made it clear that salaries would be released if notices were served to them. The Revenue staff had not even been able to collect 50 per cent of the tax resulting in the huge arrears.
The Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) may initiate action against chronic defaulters as per the relevant Municipal Act and it would be used to realise the arrears, he added. The Rs.3 crore due from the e-Seva centres has been deposited in the court and is expected to be released after a court hearing on December 28.
While the present collection scenario is disappointing, the door-to-door survey of properties carried out by GVMC to go into unassessed and under-assessed properties has estimated that a 42 per cent increase netting an additional Rs.50 crore is possible. The Commissioner said demand notices would be issued to them.
Encroachment removed
Zone III Commissioner B. Sanyasi Naidu and Assistant City Planner Venkata Subbaiah on Monday removed an unauthorised construction near the Sivalayam at HB Colony following instructions from the Commissioner.
