S. Narayan, member of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Economic Advisory Council, on Monday said the upwardly revision of property tax in the State was needed both to meet the guidelines of the 15th Finance Commission and raise funds to resolve the civic and infrastructure issues.
Speaking to The Hindu, he pointed out that the property tax rates had not been hiked for a long time, and Tamil Nadu had one of the highest urbanisation rates at 58%. All the five members in the Advisory Council had recommended for property tax hikes, and the 15th Finance Commission had imposed several conditions for release of grants to the local bodies, Mr. Narayan said.
According to him, as the next step, the government should come out with an announcement of how much they would be spending towards resolving the various civic and infrastructure issues, which would help build confidence among public and would make them understand the necessity of the hikes.
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, separately, tweeted that of the total grants of ₹15,419 crore allocated by the 15th Finance Commission from the Centre from 2021-22 to 2025-26, ₹13,943 crore was tied to the property tax notification.
Anoop Singh, member of the 15th Finance Commission, too independently confirmed that the property tax hikes was in line with the guidelines issued by the Commission.
