Civic bodies squeezed as govt units owe Rs 15cr in property tax

Several government institutions have not been paying property tax for the last three years in East Godavari district.

As a result, two municipal corporations – Kakinada and Rajahmundry – and seven municipalities – Tuni, Pithapuram, Amalapuram, Peddapuram, Mandapeta, Samalkot, and Ramachandrapuram, are feeling the pinch.

The arrears from private companies to these civic bodies stand at Rs. 8.19 crore and those from 960 government establishments are a whopping Rs. 15.15 crore. The annual property tax collection from 1.79 lakh taxpayers in the district comes to Rs. 42 crore. This year, the amount to be collected under the head is Rs. 45.19 crore, which includes arrears.

“We have been able to achieve 80 to 90 per cent of the target annually,” says Regional Joint Director of Municipalities Rajendra Prasad. The Tuni Municipality stands first with 89.10 per cent mobilisation. Pithapuram lags behind, with only 60 per cent of the tax collected .

The arrears are only adding to the woes of the corporations and municipalities, burdened as they are with acute shortage of funds, says Mr. Prasad.

The local bodies were empowered to collect property and other types of taxes from even Central government establishments and public sector units from 2010.

GAIL, ONGC, BSNL, Railways, Postal Department, Coast Guard, airlines, and shipping companies have not been paying property tax to the two corporations for the last one year.