TRICHY: With two months left for the 2024-25 financial year to end, Trichy corporation has collected Rs111 crore as property tax, bettering its collection in the last two years. Apart from improving routine property tax collection including arrear demands, the local body surveyed more than 5,400 properties and added Rs10 crore to its kitty by addressing lapses in tax assessments.
Officials said the Central Finance Commission (CFC) has introduced a new formula to allocate funds to urban local bodies. Around 23% of Trichy corporation’s revenue comes through CFC funds and the rest from tax collection and subsidies.
As CFC has set stringent property tax collection as parameter to allocate funds, Trichy corporation said it is forced to intensify tax collection. Out of the total demand of Rs188.1 crore in property tax, it has collected Rs111.6 crore, or around 60% of it, as of Jan 30. In previous financial years, tax collection in the corresponding period was around 55%.
Under-assessments such as residential properties utilised for commercial purpose but paying lesser tax were identified and rectified. Besides the natural rise in property tax due to new assessments, revisions for under-assessments improved the tax revenue.
Against Rs110 crore in 2022-23 and Rs125 crore in 2023-24, the revised property tax demand for 2024-25 has soared to Rs137 crore for Trichy corporation. “We obtained a list of commercial electricity connections from Tangedco and conducted a survey to ascertain if any properties pay lesser tax. By finding and plugging revenue leakage, we improved the tax revenue,” V Saravanan, commissioner, Trichy corporation, told TOI.
The civic body has set a target of 85-90% of property tax collection by March. Since property tax and solid waste management user charges (SUC) are clubbed, the local body has collected Rs7.7 crore out of Rs13.2 crore in SUC, which was around 60% of the total demand.
However, water charges collection is yet to improve. Out of the total demand of Rs54.3 crore in water charges, Trichy corporation has collected only Rs18.8 crore, which was only around 34% of the total demand. “We will soon launch a special drive mobilising all bill collectors to increase the collection of water charges,” the commissioner added.
