Property tax hike will have limited impact on residential owners

Property tax hike will have limited impact on residential owners

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, April 7, 2017: A move by MCC, Mangaluru City Corporation to hike the property tax by 15% from April 1 will have a marginal impact on residential property owners in this coastal city. The corporation as mandated under section 109 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976 has hiked the property tax by 45% for residential, commercial and non-residential/non-commercial properties from April 1 vis-a-vis base enhancement year of 2008-09.

The marginal impact on overall property tax payable stems from the fact that the civic body has pared solid waste management (SWM) cess for residential users. Now a property owner has to pay an annual SWM cess of Rs 180 for plinth area up to 500 sq.ft, Rs 360 for 501 to 1000 sqft, Rs 600 for 1001 to 2000 sqft, and Rs 720 for plinth for 2000 sqft and above. This was Rs 240, Rs 480, Rs 720 and Rs 960 in FY 2016-17.


Incidentally, the move to rationalize SWM cess for residential users was initiated when former mayor M Harinath was heading the standing committee on taxation, finance and appeals. Harinath had mooted the proposal in the budget presented by him during 2015-16 and the proposal has been given effect for the assessment year 2017-18. The MCC has not touched property rates for non-residential/non-commercial and industrial users and retained it as it is.


Madhu Manohar, environment engineer of the corporation, said the reduction in SWM cess for residential properties has been made on the premise that such households do not generate the same quantity of waste compared to industrial and commercial establishments such as hotels. The civic body has included the SWM cess for commercial units in their trade license, he said adding that the MCC has proportionately hiked the cess for these units based on their plinth area to balance the loss.


Incidentally, the four-page SAS form for properties with building introduced by MCC for FY 17-18 has done away with the column on tax payable by kalyana mantaps, hotels and hostels. This follows the move to collect the cess with their trade license, Madhu said. There is an element of cross subsidy in the property tax under SAS scheme from the current fiscal, he said adding it will not in any manner impact payments due to the contractors handling the city’s waste