The Hindu              11.12.2013 

Corporation’s revenue goes up

Financial Year 2013-14 is proving to be good for the Coimbatore Corporation as the results of the measures it has initiated have begun to bear fruit. According to sources in the Coimbatore Corporation, since April 2013 there has been a steady increase in revenue collection except in June 2013, when there was a marginal decrease by 1.91 per cent.

The revenue collection includes money collected for property tax, water charges, dangerous and offensive trade license fee, professional tax, rent and money collected for assets leased.

In April this year the Corporation saw its overall revenue go up by 24.15 per cent and property tax collection by 8.55 per cent as against April last year. The highest increase in overall collection was in August — 59.43 per cent. The property tax collection for the period went up by 11.17 per cent. (For month-wise comparative statement for the first half-year see table)

Corporation sources said the increase in overall collection was due to increase in various tax components.

As for property tax collection the increase in collection was not only because of increase in assessments but also the drive carried out by bill collectors.

The civic body asked its field staff to go on a ward-wise drive to ensure that there were no properties outside the tax net and that properties were under the right assessment category — residences as residences and not as commercial establishments and vice versa.

The exercise had resulted in the number of assessments going up by 23,510 by the end of the 2012-13 financial year and 18,391 in the past few months, said Mayor S.M. Velusamy.

The increase in assessments also saw an increase in revenue collection. At the end of the first half-year on September 30, 2013 the increase in property tax collection was Rs. 11.77 crore.

The sources said that Corporation had also carried out a similar drive for collecting vacant land tax. Plus, at the time of approving building plans the Town Planning wing coordinates with the revenue wing so as to ensure that it approves of the plan only after the vacant land tax dues are cleared.

The Mayor said that in the past seven months the Corporation had increased the vacant land tax assessments by 4,994.

For improving the professional tax collection, the Corporation conducted camps asking eligible persons to volunteer to become assessees, spoke to traders’ and industries’ associations and also collected data from other government departments like the Tangedco, Employees State Insurance Corporation, Commercial Tax to ensure that the tax net was cast wide.

The sources said that the increase in revenue would translate in to more development works for the Corporation as funding agencies look at repayment capacity before sanctioning or funding projects.

The Hindu              04.10.2013

Road and drainage works to be executed

The government has sanctioned Rs. 21.21 crore for the City Municipal Corporation to undertake road repair works, conversion of tar topped roads into bitumen roads, construction of drains and small bridges in the four zones in the city.

Corporation Commissioner M. Ashokan, in a press release, said that the bitumen roads would be laid in Anna Nagar Cross Street, Tirumal Nagar and Sriram Nagar in Jagir Ammapalayam in Suramangalam Zone at a cost of Rs. 1.25 crore, in Amman Nagar, Highways Nagar and Rajapuram Cross Street at a cost of Rs. 1.05 crore and at Periyasamy Layout, Mariamman Street and Rathinasamipuram at a cost of Rs. 1.32 crore.

Small bridges would be constructed on Chettichavadi Road and on Margabandu Road. Construction of drains and small bridges would be undertaken on Tamil Sangam Road at a cost of Rs. 1 crore.

Besides this, new drains would be constructed in Ammapet Zone at a cost of Rs. 1.28 crore and roads at a cost of Rs. 88 lakh and Rs. 1.18 crore respectively.

Works would also be carried out in Kondalampatti Zone at a cost of Rs. 1.59 crore and Rs. 1.63 crore in various areas, the release said.