Sanguem civic body resolves to cut house tax, shop rent by 50%

Addressing a news conference, SMC Councillors Meshu D’Costa and Sangam Naik said a resolution to this effect proposed by them had been unanimously passed by all 10 councillors at the very first council meeting on Monday.

“Since 1996, the council had increased house tax and shop rent by 10 times and this had caused great hardship to the people and shop owners in Sanguem,” D’Costa said.

“Due to an increase in house tax, people who were paying tax in the range of Rs 700-1,000 were made to pay an increased tax of around Rs 6,000-10,000. This was highly questionable considering the fact that Sanguem Municipal Council is a 'C' class municipality, D’Costa said.

D’Costa informed that there are some households in the town area who do not have an earning member in the family but are solely dependent on the monthly pension released by the government.

Added Sangam Naik: “How are these families expected to pay the hefty increase in house tax?”

They claimed the situation was no different with municipal shop owners who were suddenly issued notices to pay the increased rental fee along with the arrears for last several years.

They claimed that the slab proposed by the council towards payment of rent had been much higher for a place like Sanguem, which hardly has much business.

D’Costa said Naik and he had proposed the resolution to reduce house tax and municipal shop rent by 50 per cent from the existing rates and it was supported by all the councillors.

They said the resolution will now be sent to the Director of Municipal Administration for further consideration and if approved, will reduce the house tax in Sanguem town to a great extent.