MARGAO
Guess the total outstanding house tax arrears starring at the Margao Municipal Council, struggling to foot the salary and wage bill of the civic employees and workers?
A whopping Rs 13.23 crore, if one goes by the Municipal records. Take note, this outstanding amount only pertains to a house tax and the figure would increase manifold if the arrears of trade licence, advertising fees, besides rent from Municipal properties are all added to the total outstanding arrears.
That’s not all. The figures available with the civic body pertain to the legal households and business premises as per the official records. Thousands of houses and business establishments dotting the commercial capital are still not brought under the tax net for reasons best known to the councillors and the Municipal babus.
Indeed, strange it may seem, but true that a civic body, struggling to arrange the monthly salaries and wages of the employees and workers has allowed the huge outstanding arrears to pile up over the months, if not years.
The Margao Municipal’s monthly salary bill alone is pegged around Rs 1.80 crore. Add the wage bill amounting to Rs 40 lakh and the total Margao civic body salary and wage bill works out a whopping Rs 2.20 crore. The civic body has literally struggled to pay the net salary of the employees and the wages for the daily wage workers for the month of October after the due date.
Timely recovery of the outstanding tax arrears should not pose any problem in arranging funds to meet the salary and wage bill. Sadly, the MMC finds it difficult to arrange the salary and wage bill almost every month, as a result of which funds are not available on undertaking development works in the city.
Unlike the past, the civic body has engaged a retired employee as a recovery officer. Margao civic chief Damu Shirodkar does not stop showering praises on the recovery officer for the revenue recoveries, but questions remain unanswered “ how come the outstanding revenue arrears run into crores of rupees despite the recovery section is headed by a recovery officer?
That’s not all. Another question that has remained unanswered is when will the civic body tap the huge revenue by way of trade licence and advertising fees from the thousands of illegal commercial establishments dotting across the city?
Rent from Municipal properties is another source of revenue, which can enrich the civic coffers with lakhs of revenue, if not crores. Sadly, blame it on lack of political will or simply lethargy or apathy, surveys of the two municipal markets, the New Market and Gandhi market, are gathering dust in the Municipal cupboards for want of action.
Most establishments in rented premises fail to pay one-month rent to civic body
MARGAO: Pose a question to Margao civic chief Damu Shirodkar over the assessment of business establishments doing business in the commercial capital. And, do not be surprised if the Municipal chairperson says that 40 per cent of the business establishments are carrying on business in his Aquem Municipal ward.
Damu’s candid admission over the situation in his Aquem ward is just a tip of the ice berg with reports suggesting that thousands of business establishments are carrying on the business activities without the mandatory trade licence.
That’s not all. Municipal laws mandate business establishments operating in rented premises to pay one-month rent to the local civic body. Hundreds, if not thousands of commercial establishments are operating in rented premises with the Leave and Licence Agreement, but hardly a few establishments are believed to be paying the one-month rent to the Municipal body.
“It is the responsibility of the Municipal officials and staff to mop up the revenue. As a chairperson, I have been after the officials and staff to tone up the revenue recoveries. Unless the Municipal officials and staff go all out to mop up the revenue, it would be difficult to arrange funds for the payment of salaries and wages on time,” Damu warned.
Notices issued to establishments, households for tax payment: CO
MARGAO: Saying that revenue recovery from the defaulters is a process, which has been set in motion by the civic body, Margao Municipal Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar has said the civic body has issued notices to the households and establishments for the payment of tax.
“If the tax payers do not pay the tax, the civic body will initiate action against the households and business establishments. Teams of officials are on the field deployed for recovery. These teams have recovered around Rs 14 lakh in the last one week. We are trying to streamline the recovery mechanism,” Sankhwalkar said, adding that the civic body is on the job to streamline the revenue recovery system.
