the goan I network
VASCO
Cortalim Panchayat is upset over the halt in the process of reassessment of houses by the Director of Panchayats. An angered Dy sarpanch of VP Cortalim Raymond Desa along with other panch members on Saturday addressed media stating that the reassessment of houses which had begun was vital for the panchayat whose funds are already depleting as many residential building and houses in the jurisdiction were paying below 100 rupees as house tax.
Desa said that Cortalim MLA had written to the Director of Panchayat to stop the reassessment of houses. “Reassessment of houses is not done for the last thirty years and hence we took a resolution in a gram sabha meeting that was attended by MLA Alina Saldanha. We are having a lot of expenses and we have also spending on the rent of various govt agencies that are yet to be shifted to the new Cortalim market complex and our expenses are crossing rupees 3.5 lakh a month and our income of rupees two crore has come down to 80 lakhs and we may not have funds for development. Our finances and funds are depleting and hence it is very vital that the reassessment of houses be done.
However after the resolution, we asked for an approval from the Director of Panchayat and after moving through the BDO, director, panchayat minister and panchayat secretary, we finally got the approval for reassessment of houses. We later floated a tender for the reassessment of houses and called for a meeting of all members to discuss with the tender awardee the criteria and how he will move with the reassessment,” said Desa.
“The tender awardee later explained all the details and we had proposed that a new revised taxes structure be imposed. We also proposed that a one month rent of all the rented premises be given annually to the panchayat and at that point of time, no one raised any objected.
Once the work order was given and work began, a former sarpanch, who had proposed the reassessment resolution, began raising objections along with another ten people. All these people who have objected are paying house tax below rupees 100 except one, who is paying a house tax of Rs 500. There are several rooms that are rented but not registered with the panchayat. Based on these complains, MLA Alina Saldanha wrote to the Director of Panchayat and stopped the reassessment of houses. Even in the Assembly, Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho has demanded that houses in the panchayat jurisdiction be reassessed. Godinho has been helping this panchayat as of now with any and every issue we face,” added Desa.
