MARGAO
Guess the average monthly salary and wage bill, in addition to the miscellaneous expenses of the Margao Municipal Council? Well, around Rs two crore per month on an average -- around Rs 1.80 crore by way of salary and wage payments and Rs 15-20 lakh expenditure on other heads.
This figure is over and above the funds, amounting to lakhs of rupees, spent by the civic body on garbage, including door to door garbage collection, every month, from the Finance Commission.
The huge salary and wage bill ought to have spurred the City Fathers and Municipal babus to mop up revenue and effect outstanding tax recoveries. Sadly, revenue statistics placed before the House in the just concluded Goa Legislative Assembly session, however, present a grim picture on the revenue front. In fact, the figures do not inspire much confidence in the system adopted by the Margao Municipal Council to mop up revenue and recover the huge tax arrears.
Indeed, the tax arrears appear mind boggling, throwing up a host of questions over the huge accumulation of tax arrears and the seriousness of the civic body in effecting the recoveries.
Consider this: The latest figures tabled on the floor of the House have pegged whopping Rs 38.19 crore as outstanding tax arrears. A further glance at the figure shows that the major chunk of the arrears, around Rs 30.68 crore happens to be house tax and sanitation tax “ the major component of tax revenue for any local civic body. Besides, the MMC’s trade sanitation is pegged at a whopping Rs 1.67 crore, indicating lack of collection of sanitation fees from both households and commercial establishments
That’s not all. Arrears on the trade license front has touched almost Rs four crore, around Rs 3.93 crore to be precise. The arrears on sign board have also almost touched Rs 70 lakhs, around Rs 69.85 lakh to be precise. This figure, sources said, is just the tip of the iceberg, as the commercial capital is playing host to thousands of establishments operating sans the mandatory trade license.
Incidentally, the Margao Municipality has been caught napping in recovering rent from its own properties, including shops and establishments leased out to parties. A glance at the figures placed on the floor of the House has revealed that the total rent dues to the civic body is pegged a little over Rs one crore, only throwing up questions whether lethargy or simply political pressure is responsible behind MMC’s poor statistics on the rent recoveries.
Steady rise in
the tax arrears
A glance at the MMC statistics reveals a steady rise in the outstanding tax arrears over the last three years. In the financial year ending 2020-21, the closing balance had shown total arrears to the tune of Rs 24.59 crores, with house tax and sanitation tax constituting the major heads.
The situation continued in the following financial year in 2021-22 with outstanding arrears pegged at around Rs 25.77 crore.
The figure jumped to a whopping Rs 27.72 crore in the 2023-24 financial years with the outstanding house tax and sanitation tax pegged at a whopping Rs 21 crore.
What has come as a big surprise is that these tax arrears have jumped to a whopping Rs 38.19 crore in the last four months as on July 11, 2024.
Recovery officer
for recovery of dues
To a question on the steps initiated for recovery of the huge outstanding tax arrears, the MMC replied to the LAQ that the civic body has appointed a Recovery officer to monitor the recovery of the dues.
The Audit, however, has questioned whether the Recovery Officer has been set time-bound targets by the MMC to effect the huge tax recoveries.
A glance at the audit report stated that the MMC had appointed a recovery officer on January 3, 2022 for an initial period of six months. “The appointment has been subsequently extended, and as on date, the officer continues to serve with a monthly remuneration of Rs 30,000. However, it has come to notice that neither specific time-bound targets have been assigned to the officer, nor was he asked to furnish the monthly progress reports of recoveries made. This incidence of huge arrears points towards the failure of the Council in executing/invoking the statutory provision for recovery and collection of revenue”, the audit report stated, with the audit asking the civic body to submit the corrective action initiated and the recovery status.
Civic Chief Shirodkar begs
to differ on arrears
Even as the MMC’s official figures on the tax arrears submitted to the Legislative Assembly have pegged the total outstanding arrears to Rs 38.19 crore, Civic Chief Damu Shirodkar has begged to differ on the statistics.
In fact, Shirodkar asserted that the tax arrears would come down drastically if the Municipality strikes down the non-existent houses from the computer data. In this respect, the Municipal Chairperson said he had ordered a study to be conducted by the civic officials to find out the number of ghost houses still existing in the computerised data and the actual establishments on the ground. “I am sure that the study would bring out the correct picture. The tax arrears will come down drastically. The study is likely to be completed in one and half month’s time”, he added.
MMC needs a pro-active
CO to mop up revenue
There is a general consensus in the corridors of the Margao Municipal building that absence of a pro-active Chief Officer to mobilise and guide his sub-ordinates to effect tax recoveries has hit the Civic body on the revenue recovery front. In fact, city Fathers cutting across political lines admit that former Chief Officer Sidhivinayak Naik had enriched the Municipal coffers by crores of rupees during his stint in office. In fact, the civic body had stashed the recovered revenue in fixed deposits in banks, which had come in handy to pay the salary and wage bill of the employees.
