The Erode Corporation has unearthed large-scale irregularities in the property tax assessment carried out in a few parts of the town and launched a detailed probe. It has also suspended four bill collectors for the alleged irregularities.
Official sources here said that the civic body found violation of norms in the assessment carried out for more than 200 new properties that came up in Surampatty and Kasipalayam areas during the annual auditing.
It was said that the bill collectors in these areas fixed a tax for the properties arbitrarily without consulting the senior officials and taking their approval for the assessment. Sources alleged that low amount of tax was fixed for a number of new properties that came up in the last few months. A high amount of tax was imposed for some of the properties.
The bill collectors had also issued assessment orders to the owners of the new buildings without getting the approval and signature from the assistant commissioners of the respective zones.
In the preliminary inquiry carried out by the civic body, officials confirmed the irregularities committed by the bill collectors and submitted a detailed report to Corporation Commissioner M. Vijayalakshmi.
Based on the report, the civic body placed four bill collectors — Gurusamy, Subramani, Krishnan and Ramasamy — under suspension. “We have also initiated a departmental inquiry,” a senior official here said.
Teams comprising senior officials were also sent to more than 200 properties and a fresh assessment was carried out.
The civic body had also initiated steps to re-assess the new buildings that came in Erode town limits in the recent years.
Once the reassessment was completed, the civic body could identify all the irregularities in the fixation of tax. Appropriate action would be initiated against the erring bill collectors, officials added.
