Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) administration has set a target of Rs 500 crores for property tax and water tax collection this year. Since April 1, 2024, there has been a significant focus on tax collections, and so far, Rs 64.59 crore has been collected by the civic officials in first quarter (three months) of the current financial year. The municipal corporation is demanding both outstanding dues and the current financial year's dues.
Earlier, in collaboration with Smart City, the municipal corporation spent a substantial Rs 30 crores on developing an advanced software from Marx Company for property tax and water tax collections. This company has made the tax payment process more convenient. Subsequently, the CSMC administrator G Sreekanth utilised his experience of working in the GST Department and sought assistance from experienced GST officers. The collection data was updated and streamlined. The Google Sheets with the distribution of properties were given to the collection staff. Facilities were provided to encourage property owners to pay taxes online. More than 18,000 property owners have taken advantage of this so far. The Seven Star Scheme was implemented, offering tax concessions to eligible property owners.
The property tax and water tax are the backbone of the municipal corporation's economy. Therefore, the administrator regularly conducts zone-wise reviews. If a zone's collection is low, stern warnings are issued to ward officers and collection staff, prompting employees to focus more on collections. From April 1 to July 9, Rs 55.13 crore has been collected as property tax and Rs 9.46 crore as water tax. The highest collection was from Zone No. 7, which collected Rs 11.88 crore. Following this, Zone No. 5 collected Rs 9.46 crore, and Zone No. 9 collected Rs 9.37 crore.