If you own a house in the city, be prepared to spend more on property tax.
And worse: if you work in an area under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), it means shelling out even more.
These are proposals made by the civic agency — which controls 96 per cent of Delhi’s area — in its budget estimates for the year 2010-2011.
This will help the corporation earn an additional of Rs 500 crore a year, said MCD commissioner K.S. Mehra.
Mehra has proposed an increase of five per cent in property tax rates in all categories — residential and commercial.
The MCD area has been divided into eight categories — A to H — wherein category A stands for upscale colonies (see box). If the proposal goes through, the tax rate of 10 per cent will go up to 15 per cent and from six to 11 per cent. In effect, this means you pay 50 per cent more.
So, a person who was paying property tax of Rs 13,000 a year will now have to pay Rs 19,500.
“We want to provide better services and for this we need more funds,” Mehra said.
There is even more bad news.
In addition to the proposed property tax hike, the Municipal Valuation Committee (MVC) will revise the unit area values (per square metre) under which there could be a minimum increase of 24 per cent.
This means apart from a hike in tax rates, the unit area values may also increase. Together, property tax could go up by 66 per cent. For instance, the unit area value of category A is Rs 630 per sq m. If the proposal is accepted, it will be hiked by 24 per cent to Rs 781 per sq m. “With new area values, the rates may go up to 35 per cent,” said a senior MCD official.
Mehra has also proposed an imposition of 20 per cent commercial tax on rented nonresidential properties and `highend non-residential’ properties such as hotels and malls.
For professionals, tax may be levied on those who work in MCD areas and earn more than Rs 30,000 per month.
Municipal l Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is all set to give the city an `international’ look before the Commonwealth Games.
It has assured that all Gamesrelated projects will be completed by June next year. It has set aside Rs 1,005 crore for these projects.
In the next financial year, the civic agency is expecting a Rs 20-crore surplus. It has estimated an income of Rs 6,347 crore and expenditure of Rs 6,327 crore. t MCD commissioner KS Mehra said the civic body had earned Rs 542 crore in proper y tax till November 16 this year.
The target for property tax col ection is Rs 1,400 crore. The money will be mainly spent on sanitation, cleanliness, engineering works, health and education sectors.
Mehra said, “We will meet all our expenditure through our own resources. This is why we have not taken any loan from an outside agency.”
GAMES’ PROJECTS Mehra said work on the bus parking site over Sunehri, Kushak and DPS nallah, near he main Games venue, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, will be completed by March 2010. The work on upgrading and streetscaping of 20 roads will be over by June 30, 2010.
“We have also started work on a Rs 236-crore project for upgrading the areas near hotels and guest houses in Karol Bagh, Pahar Ganj and City Zone,” said Mehra.
NEW PROJECTS MCD also plans to set up 1,000 waterless urinals in two phases by December 30 next year, Mehra said.
Besides, to rid the city of its parking woes, the civic agency has drawn up plans for a number of stack parking, automated parking and multi-level parking sites.
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