PMC proposes hike in taxes to generate more revenue

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) proposed a hike of 5.5 per cent on property tax of 5.5 and hikes of 1.5 per cent and five per cent on water tax and sewage tax respectively on January 16, 2019 for the next financial year. The civic body said that there is a need to generate more revenue from the taxes to meet its increasing expenditure in order to provide civic facilities. It is to be mentioned that just one week ago PMC announced that there will be no hike in property tax.

Saurabh Rao, Municipal Commissioner, PMC said, “The proposed hike would increase civic revenue by Rs 110 crore. The new tax structure would be applicable for mobile tower companies and information technology companies.”

In the next financial year, if the proposal is approved, the property tax would fall in range of 22.25 per cent to 55.5 per cent, the water tax would be 7.25 per cent and sewage tax would be 14.5 per cent.

The PMC said, “It has only been able to get revenue of Rs 193 crore from existing charges for processing waste, and that is the reason to introduce user charges to generate more revenue.”

As per the provisions of Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, the tax proposal has to be approved by February 20, 2019, and the civic standing committee has decide to take up the matter in the special meeting.