House to take call on tax hike, new tax: SDMC panel

The standing committee of the SDMC today cleared the commissioner's municipal budget, raising estimated income for financial year 2016-17 from Rs 3,857.56 crore to Rs 4,079.56 crore, while relayed the decision on the proposed minor hike in property tax to the civic body's House.
Also, the standing committee has proposed to increase estimated income through advertisement, tehbazari, mobile towers, fines on illegal slaughter house, community centres regularisation of farm houses, Low Density Residential Area (LDRA) policy and transfer of markets, totalling around Rs 222 crore, said the committee's chairman Radhey Shyam Sharma in his speech.
Thus the project income of Rs 100 crore will thus rise to Rs 322 crore through stepped-up efforts, he said.

Also, the commissioner's proposal of hike in property tax and the newly proposed professional tax was deliberated in the standing committee. The panel has left the final decision on the proposed hike to SDMC House.
Presenting the budget estimates for 2016-17, commissioner Punit Goyal had last month proposed hiking property tax rates for residential properties in A and B category colonies from 12 per cent to 14 per cent, and in case of C, D, E categories, from 11 per cent to 12 per cent.
The proposed downsizing in rebate on timely payment of property tax, proposed by the commissioner, have also been rendered null and void by the standing committee.

"With the combined efforts of all, the actual income of SDMC which was Rs 2,786 crore at the time of its inception in 2012-13 is going to increased upto Rs 4,079 crore in 2016-17," Sharma said.