CPI(M) urges rollback of G.O. on property tax

The CPI(M) city committee has demanded withdrawal of a G.O. under which property tax would henceforth be assessed based on the value of the property.

The activists burnt a copy of the G.O. issued by the YSRCP government, at a protest opposite the GVMC Office here on Wednesday. City Committee secretariat member R.K.S.V. Kumar said that the State government’s ordinance would put undue burden on the common man.

Demanding withdrawal of the ordinance, Mr. Kumar sought that 50% concession in property tax should be given to the people in view of the crisis due to the pandemic, as was being done in Telangana. The move to hike taxes, based on property values, would not only cause undue burden on homeowners but also result in annual hike in property tax, when property values are revised, causing burden on house owners as well as tenants. They alleged that the State government had hiked the tax on the orders of the Centre.

CPI(M) leader and former corporator Botta Eswaramma said that many people in Visakhapatnam had lost their jobs or suffered loss in income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She recalled that the Congress and Telugu Desam governments were forced to suffer the wrath of the public in the past when they had hiked property tax, and warned of agitations if the hike was not rolled back.

CPI(M) City secretariat member B. Padma, leaders B. Jagan, P. Mani, M. Subba Rao, V. Krishna Rao, B. Suryamani and RP Raju participated in the protest.