Re-evaluation of all properties in city after one decade soon

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The municipal corporation is currently burdened with a debt of nearly Rs 1,600 crore. The growing debt has become increasingly difficult to manage, and the administration along with elected representatives will have to make joint efforts to overcome the situation. The city has around 3.45 lakh properties, but these properties have not been re-evaluated for the past 10 years. As a result, the civic body is losing crores of rupees in potential revenue every year. The administration is now considering re-evaluation of all properties in the 2026–27 financial year.

At present, once a zone office assesses property tax for a property, it is rarely revalued. For instance, in areas of the old city or in the Cidco–Hudco sectors, tax may have originally been levied on a small two-room house. However, even if a four-storey building now stands at the same location, the municipal corporation continues to collect property tax based on the earlier assessment of a two-room structure. This situation has arisen because property revaluation has not been carried out for the past decade.

Ideally, zone offices should conduct surveys of all properties within their jurisdiction every year or at least once every two years. The lack of such surveys has affected property tax collection. The administration had expected to collect around Rs 700 crore this year through property tax and water tax. However, even after the beginning of March, only Rs 210 crore has been recovered.

Elected representatives to take final decision

The municipal corporation last conducted property re-evaluation before 2016–17, which had resulted in a significant increase in property tax revenue. The assessor and collector of tax (ACT) section has now begun considering another revaluation exercise in 2026–27. Sources said the final decision will be taken after discussions with the mayor, deputy mayor and the chairman of the standing committee.

According to municipal corporation records, the city has 3.45 lakh properties, of which more than 42,000 are commercial properties.

Need for systematic tax collection

Mayor Sameer Rajurkar recently held discussions with the assessor and collector of tax (ACT) Vikas Navale regarding tax collection and assessment. He directed officials to bring greater efficiency and coordination into the tax assessment and recovery process.

He also instructed the section to plan the re-evaluation of properties that have not been reassessed for many years. In cases where property records contain duplicate names, officials have been directed to retain only one name. The mayor emphasised that citizens should not face any inconvenience during the process and warned that if complaints are received from residents, the concerned employees and officials will be held responsible.