The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has hiked property tax of residential properties by 5% and that of commercial properties by 10%. The PCB is authorized to revise the tax once every three years. The last revision was carried out in 2014.Although, the PCB ought to have ideally revised the rates in 2017, it did not do so due to administrative reasons.The PCB has issued property tax bills to...
The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has hiked property tax of residential properties by 5% and that of commercial properties by 10%. The PCB is authorized to revise the tax once every three years. The last revision was carried out in 2014.Although, the PCB ought to have ideally revised the rates in 2017, it did not do so due to administrative reasons.
The PCB has issued property tax bills to the property owners calculating arrears of the last three years (2017-2020). Notices have also been issued to the property owners, seeking their views on the revised bills a few weeks ago.
As per the procedure, a notice regarding public hearing, which is slated to start from November 15 at the board office has been issued. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PCB Amit Kumar added that currently the board earns around Rs. 27crore annually from property tax. Post the hike, it is expected to earn Rs. 30 crore.
According to Kumar, the residents can present their property tax documents and voice their concerns during the hearing. Miscalculations or errors if any would be rectified immediately. Besides, the officials will verify each claim or objection made by an individual before finalizing the rates. According to board records, there are 11,292 properties in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipality (PCM) limits.
During the survey, some violations regarding illegal use of residential spaces for commercial purposes have been noticed by revenue officials. Activists are enraged by the PCB’s policy in the last two years as it has increased all types of taxes. According to activists, PCB has already increased vehicle entry tax and parking charges.