Team Herald
PANJIM: Less than a week after pulling up the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) officers for failing to recover dues from house tax defaulters, Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado issued a fresh communiqué asking them to identify buildings on which house tax has not been imposed and have neither been assessed for tax. Six separate teams of CCP officials have been formed to identify such buildings and submit the details within a fortnight.
“It is noticed that there are many buildings in the jurisdiction of CCP which are not imposed house tax and not assessed for tax although these buildings are occupied by the owners/purchasers after getting occupancy certificates or without any occupancy certificates,” the Mayor said in an order issued on Thursday.
Furtado yet again criticised the CCP officers for failing to carry out the exercise resulting in loss to the corporation. “This lapse on the part of the officials of the CCP is very serious and it has resulted in financial loss to the CCP,” he said, recommending forming six teams to take action against the defaulters.
“In order that such buildings which are not assessed for house tax are identified and listed for taking action of imposing house tax, it is suggested that we constitute six gangs of officials of the CCP to identify such buildings not imposed house tax and submit the list to this office within a period of 15 days and thereafter the Taxation Section shall take action to assess the house tax for these buildings in the next 15 days,” he added.
Each team, headed by a municipal inspector and comprising junior engineer, ward supervisor, UDC and LDC among others, have been tasked with the duty in five wards.
On August 18, Furtado had pulled up his officers, including the Commissioner, for failing to recover dues from house tax defaulters that included major government offices. In a letter to Commissioner Deepak Desai, the Mayor had sought urgent action for recovery of the outstanding arrears by issuing warrants of attachments under the City of Panjim Corporation Act.
