Chennai Corporation has increased its own source of revenue by 85.6% after taking initiatives to increase in property tax collection.
Before implementation of the initiatives to increase its own source of revenue, the civic body had reported a revenue of ₹1,240 in 2017-2018. After increasing the property tax rates, the own source of revenue of the Chennai Corporation has increased to ₹2,302 in 2022-2023. During 2021-2022, the property tax collection increased to ₹11,615 crore.
The Chennai Corporation has already finalised an action plan for augmentation of its own source of revenue following the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General about a dip in its own source of revenue. According to the report, the Chennai Corporation was able to generate only 53% of its own revenue between 2015-2016 and 2019-2020.
Pointing to the delay in release of the performance grant of ₹1,323 crore after 2017 by the Centre despite fulfilment of all the eligibility criteria by the urban local bodies in the State, the CAG had stressed the need for fiscal autonomy. The property tax collection of the Chennai Corporation was around ₹1,500 in 2022-23. With the work on re-assessment of the property tax under way, the tax collection is expected to increase this year. The number of property tax assessees has also crossed 14 lakh in the 15 zones of the city.
The other initiatives to be taken up for increasing the own source of revenue include advertisement fees and parking charges.
