The GHMC standing committee has proposed to give one-time amnesty to property tax defaulters, and waive up to 80% of the interest on tax arrears to encourage them to pay dues voluntarily.
During the standing committee meeting on Thursday, it was decided to send the proposal for the government’s approval.
As per details available, only over 9.89 lakh assessees paid tax out of a total of 16.39 lakh property owners in 2019-20. Of the remaining, over 5.64 lakh are non-governmental property owners whose dues have been accumulating for several years. They owed ₹1,478 crore to GHMC by way of property tax, and ₹1,018 crore of interest on the dues, calculated at 2% per month.
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For a target of ₹1,800 crore property tax for the year 2019-20, only ₹1,395 crore could be collected, a note from GHMC said.
A total of 33 agenda items were discussed during the meeting, and approved. The committee refuted discussion on an agenda item for gifting iPhones to standing committee members, and authorised GHMC commissioner D. S. Lokesh Kumar to take a decision on that.
The approved proposals include tenders to be called for reconstruction of 201 bus shelters under four packages, extension of contract for maintenance of traffic signals at 221 junctions inthe city, and installation of new traffic signals at 155 junctions more.
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Another proposal was approved to allot shops in model market of Vanasthalipuram for those who had lost their shops to road-widening near L. B. Nagar Metro Rail station, for onstruction of flyover as part of SRDP. The committee also granted approval for GHMC call centre (040-21111111) to be extended by three years, and for shifting he 33kV overhead power lines from Indira Park to facilitate the elevated corridor from Indira Park to VST junction, among others.
Mayor Bonthu Ram Mohan, who presided, asked officials to ensure official power-cut for some time during the ongoing sanitation drive, to clear garbage near distribution transformers.