Curation Team
HUBBALLI: Hubballi-Dharwad residents are facing unexpected property tax increases due to additional cess charges. The Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) claims it increased property tax by 3%, but residents are receiving challans with hikes ranging from 60% to 100% due to steep increases in SWM and UGD cess. The delay in challan generation has left taxpayers frustrated.
DM Shanbhag, president of the Hubballi-Dharwad Citizens Forum, said that HDMC is hiding all the information pertaining to the property tax hike. “They say they hiked the tax by 3%, but they are not revealing that the 3% is hiked with effect from 2023-24 and now they will be collecting the hiked amount with the penalty of two years. Citizens have challans and receipts of paying all taxes and cess till 2024-25, but new challans are showing arrears,” he rued.
Vasant Ladawa, former president of the Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) Hubballi, said that the HDMC is not providing basic amenities to citizens but looting them like anything. “Earlier, SWM cess was Rs 50 per month, and now it is Rs 100. UGD cess has been imposed from this year, though UGD works are yet to be started in many areas. There is no classification of properties to impose these cesses. HDMC never called for public objections while increasing taxes. It should issue a public notice at least to explain why the property tax has been doubled,” he pressed.
Ladawa, who is also a Congressman, challenged that if HDMC is denied funds or pressured to hike taxes by the state govt, it should reveal the fact in the public domain.
Mayor Ramappa Badiger said that property tax is hiked by 3% while the state govt has allowed it to hike up to 5%. “Tax is based on the 2019 sub-registrar’s office’s guidelines value as per the 2023 guidelines of the govt. Apart from the tax, we are imposing an average SWM cess of Rs 1,200 and UGD cess is Rs 600 per year, as per the govt’s instruction,” he added.
He also alleged that the govt is not giving the required 100% funds of the sanctioned budget. “It gives about 80% of the sanction and suggests to take the remaining 20% from our resources, such as property tax. For instance, the govt implemented the 7th Pay Commission for employees and instructed us to arrange Rs 20 crore from our resources. It has even insisted on bearing the salaries of contract employees from taxes. As the govt is pressuring us, HDMC is reeling under a financial crunch,” he lamented.
