Property tax zooms by 60% as AMC effects first hike in 10 yrs

The BJP-ruled Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation hiked the property tax by 60 per cent while clearing the civic body's annual budget for 2013-14 Saturday.

The hike comes after a gap of 10 years.

As per the amended tax rates, the general (property) tax will be levied at Rs 16 per square metre a year on residential properties and Rs 28 per sqm on non-residential properties. At present, the tax is Rs 10 for residential properties and Rs 22 for non-residential properties.

According to sources, the municipal commissioner had suggested doubling the property tax for residential properties and raising it by 80 per cent for non-residential properties.

After the hike, the civic body aims to collect an additional Rs 240 crore annually in property tax and Rs 16.50 crore on account of vehicle tax. The corporation also has plans to levy "property transfer fee" in the coming days, though it was not included in civic budget 2013-14.

The political wing of the civic body increased the size of the budget by Rs 526 crore, taking it to Rs 4,951 crore from the Rs 4,425 crore as proposed by the municipal commissioner.

It has also added Rs 337.15 crore to the revenue expenditure proposals of Rs 1,955 crore, taking the figure to Rs 2,292.15 crore. It has also added Rs 188.85 crore to development spending of Rs 2,470 crore suggested by the commissioner, taking the total to Rs 2,658.85 crore.

The civic body expects to generate Rs 909 crore from octroi grant (unchanged), Rs 500 crore from general (property) tax, Rs 210 crore from water and conservancy tax (unchanged), Rs 115 crore from professional tax (up Rs five crore).

Standing committee chairman Bhupendra Patel said the hike was inevitable since it was postponed year after year for several reasons.

Budget in brief

... contd.

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