MARGAO
Come the new financial year, Madgavkars will have to pay a hike in fees on a host of services, ranging from transfer fees to correction of certificates, besides licence fees on trade, etc., as the Congress-turned-BJP Margao MLA Digambar Kamat-controlled Council has effected a hike in almost all services on Thursday.
While the revision in fees and taxes is expected to overburden the loyal taxpayers, questions, however, are being raised in the corridors of the Municipality and outside as to how the civic body will go about bringing the thousands of illegal houses under the house tax and sanitation fees.
Margao Municipal Chairperson Damu Shirodkar defended the Council's decision to effect the hike in MMC services and fees, saying the civic body had not revised the fees for the last 7-8 years.
He further said the Council had not changed the house tax fees for the moment, but the Council had resolved to implement a 12 per cent interest on house tax arrears, in a bid to force households to pay the tax on time.
Justifying the hike, the MMC Chairperson said A-Class Municipalities, besides the City Corporation of Panjim, are charging much higher fees and taxes as compared to Margao. In fact, he asserted that the MMC has been losing revenue over the years due to the failure of the civic body to effect the annual hike of 10 per cent in fees and taxes.
Ruling BJP Councillor Shagun Naik questioned the Chair over the basis for effecting the hike in fees and taxes, demanding to know whether any study had been conducted by the civic body before proposing the hike. Chairperson Damu, however, referred to the existing fees and taxes charged by the CCP and the Mormugao Municipal Council on various heads to justify the effect.
In fact, Shagun Naik cautioned that the legal and loyal taxpayers should not bear the brunt of the revised fees and taxes when there are many who are not paying any fees or taxes to the civic body.
In fact, he suggested that the civic body may effect a hike in fees for commercial activities and provide relief to individual households.
The Chairperson pointed out that the exercise is being carried out under Section 108 of the Goa Municipalities Act, saying the exercise will culminate in inviting suggestions and objections from the public. He said the hike in fees and taxes would reflect in the budget estimates for the financial year 2025-26.
The Civic Chief further made a strong case for a hike in the fees, saying there’s a mismatch between the revenue earned through door-to-door waste collection and the money spent on the contractors.
Councillor Sushanta Kurtarkar called for a single-window system to ensure that people are not put to hardship by the civic body. Councillor Pooja Naik also called for caution, saying the hike should not overburden the loyal taxpayers.
Incidentally, as the Council meeting discussed the revision of fees and taxes, the entire exercise was reduced to an “auction” where the City Fathers quoted various fees on the heads, only indicating that the Councillors had not done proper homework for the crucial meeting.
