PUNE: The municipal corporations of both Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad have proposed not to increase property tax for the financial year 2025-26, spelling some relief to residents.
While this proposal has already been approved by the municipal commissioner in the standing committee meeting of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) last week, a similar proposal is yet to be approved by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
In the absence of elected representatives due to delayed municipal elections, both civic bodies are governed by their respective municipal commissioners, who are also acting as administrators. This will be the third year in a row that municipal commissioners in both PMC and PCMC will present the annual budget.
As per the rules, the proposals for new tax rates have to be approved in the standing committee and general body meetings before Feb 20.
Avinash Shinde, assistant municipal commissioner and head of PCMC’s property tax department, said the civic body has not increased taxes since 2013-14. “We are focusing more on the collection of arrears from tax defaulters to increase our revenue. Besides, the newly identified properties during the recently conducted property assessment survey will also be brought under the tax ambit, which will further add to our tax revenue,” he told TOI.
The PCMC officials, during the property assessment survey conducted last year, found over two lakh properties that were not registered with the property tax department. The civic body has now started registration for these properties, and taxes up to the last three years are being recovered from the owners.
Currently, there are a total of 6.3 lakh properties registered with the property tax department in Pimpri Chinchwad, including residential, commercial and industrial. The civic body earned a revenue of Rs977 crore from property tax in the last financial year.
Meanwhile, Madhav Jagtap, deputy municipal commissioner and head of PMC’s taxation and tax collection department, said, “In our proposal, we have mooted not to hike tax for the financial year 2025-26, and it will be implemented after the approval in the standing committee and in general body meetings.”
Citizens welcomed the decision by the civic bodies but also urged that they focus more on providing better facilities to people.
Dattatray Deshmukh, chairman of Pimpri Chinchwad Cooperative Housing Societies Federation, told TOI, “It is good that the municipal corporation has decided not to increase the taxes, but it is also important to note that the taxes collected by PCMC are already high compared to other municipal corporations in the state. However, the facilities provided by them should also be improved as we still do not get adequate water supply, and the quality of roads is also bad in some areas.”
