Drawing flak for their inability in implementing the much-hyped property tax discount scheme aimed at easing the financial burden on citizens amid the pandemic, the BJP-ruled Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has sought help from the Maharashtra government.
As per a resolution passed by the BJP in a digital meet held in August, those making payments on or before October 31, 2020 could avail the tax sops. It was also announced that interests on pending dues will be waived if payments were cleared before the same deadline.
However, reluctant to implement the plan in entirety as it could translate into multi-crore losses for the civic body which was already staring at a huge financial crisis, civic chief Dr Vijay Rathod had forwarded the resolution to the state government for scrapping as the tax sops would further add to its existing woes.
On Tuesday, a delegation of BJP leaders led by deputy mayor Hasmukh Gehlot, also comprising including Dhruv Kishore Patil and Prashant Dalvi, met Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde seeking a nod for the resolution.
While the tax department was concerned over the financial implications in the form of losses of around Rs 50 crore, the BJP estimates that the sops would drain only Rs 22 crore from the demand registers which the civic body was not only capable to handle but was also prepared to trim unnecessary expenditure in a bid to ease the financial burden on citizens.
This year, the MBMC has projected property tax collections amounting 271 crore. However, revenue generation was hit due to the pandemic.
On the other hand, recovery is gaining momentum as the MBMC claimed to have collected more than Rs 20 crore from 43,890 taxpayers which include 18,300 people who opted for online payments.
