It is never a pretty sight when a government body, entrusted with public welfare, ignores and neglects one of the fundamental facets of its functioning. Throughout Goa, the municipal corporations have been turning away from their duties and neglecting the cities that they are elected to govern. As the citizens of Margao gear up for a municipal election, they have another burden to bear, that of nearly Rs 10 crore, the legacy of tax arrears left by the soon to be erstwhile city fathers.
Over the past term of five years, the Margao Municipal Council have failed to collect Rs 9.65 crore of arrears .Chief among them, house tax, followed by trade and occupation licence fees. Margao is Goa’s commercial capital, home to thousands of business establishments. Now it appears that quite a large number of them are operating without the necessary trade licences. Of course, there is also the matter of the far larger amount pending, a little over Rs 6.5 crore of house tax. The question is not just how has the MMC been functioning all the while without even following up every year on annual payments of house tax and allowing businesses to function without licences, it is also what have they been doing, apart from collecting their monthly income?
The Margao Municipal Council is not alone. Over the past few years, Mormugao, Cuncolim, Panaji and Mapusa have also failed to collected arrears, leading to massive financial deficits. As recently as February 2015, the Mapusa Municipal Council made plans to collect over Rs 6 crore from defaulters. Again, house tax and shop rent made up the biggest chunks of the arrears.
The basic functions of any municipal council is to provide and maintain sanitation, water supply, garbage management, roads and markets, among other things. The main income stream of a municipal council is from taxes and fees, apart grant in aid schemes by the government. If arrears amount to Rs 10 crores, then where is the money to function coming from, and where is it going?
There are possibly a few solutions that could help municipal councils streamline city management. Just as the opening of a bank account or the purchase of a vehicle etc requires identification, address proof and income proof or IT returns, there should be certificates issued for the payment of house tax that act as mandatory documents to be presented in the event of any work or requirements related to the municipality. There can be similar set of rules and laws laid down for trade and occupation licences.
There cannot be a lackadaisical functioning of municipal corporations in Goa, especially with regard to the collection of taxes and fees. This should be the premier function of any such body. In 2011, an audit report by the accountant general showed that the Margao Municipal Council has arrears of Rs 3 crores on house tax and further losses of a little over Rs 1 crore on interest on house tax. This should have been a wakeup call then. Four years later, the situation is dire. As the citizens of Margao go to the polls, they need to ponder on whether the new set of councilors will right these wrongs or make things worse.
