PUNE: The civic body is likely tosuffer a sizable shortfall in revenue from property tax owing to the poll code and restriction on tax recovery from the merged areas.
Property tax revenue is the highest source of incomefor Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The civic administration had set a target of Rs2,600 crore from this levy, which may fall short by around Rs300 crore.
According to civic officials, the municipal corporation received a revenue of Rs1,725 crore by the end of October. The administration expects an additional Rs600 crore in revenue by March 31, 2025.
The civic body intensifies its action against property tax defaulters in Nov each year. The enforcement of the poll code and recovery restrictions have, however, put a dent in its plans.
“PMC undertook several measures to recover tax from the merged villages. The process, however, stopped after the state’s directives. The civic administration is unable to make any major policy decisions abouttax recovery due to the code of conduct,” said a senior PMC official.
Madhav Jagtap, head of PMC’s property tax department, said the civic administration is reaching out to the state govt on this issue. “Property tax is a major revenue for PMC. We have shared our views with the state on this matter,” he said.
The civic body, in March 2024, hadpresented a budget of Rs11,601 crore for the 2024-25 fiscal, inflating it by Rs2,086 crore compared to the Rs9,515 crore for the 2023–24 financial year.
PMC officials had said the administrationfocused on traditional income sourcessuch asbuilding permissions and property taxes to meet the target.
Last year, the civic administration found it difficult to meet the property tax target as it had stopped property tax recovery from 34 merged areas due to political pressure. It had collected around Rs2,400 crore from building permission and around Rs2,280 crore from property tax.
