Ambattur Municipality's drive to identify properties that are either under-assessed or not assessed has paid dividends, going by the considerable increase in the number of property tax assessees.
The local body's revenue collection through property tax has also increased compared to the two previous fiscals.
According to municipal officials, the total property tax demand for 2010-11 was Rs.39.51 crore. This included tax arrears of Rs.15.37 crore.
“We were able to collect nearly Rs.30 crore of the total demand. Of this, the collection of current demand accounted for 86 per cent,” said an official.
There has also been a steady increase in the target over the past two years. The property tax target, not including the arrears, went up from Rs.16.63 crore in 2008-09 to Rs.24.14 crore in 2010-11.
The number of assessees in Ambattur was 91,718 during 2010-11, an increase of 4,500 compared to previous fiscal. Every year, about 3,000 new assesses are added.
Officials said this comprised 15 per cent of the under-assessed properties, thanks to the survey done in 2010. The increase in the property tax target was an indicator of the real estate development in the locality, particularly in the Ambattur industrial estate.
The local body is also in the process of assessing large commercial properties, of which some had a built up area of over seven lakh sq.ft.
In a bid to improve its revenue collection system, the municipality is also gearing up to introduce online tax payment and door to door collection using hand machines in about two months.
However, the lack of sufficient bill collectors proved to be setback in tax collection. Of the 21 bill collectors, nearly 10 posts have remained vacant for several months now, according to officials.
