Team Herald
MARGAO: All focus in the amendment to the Goa Municipal Act iscentred on the lease holders while other important and equally damaging amendments are ignored, said Savio Coutinho, convener of Shadow Council for Margao (SCM) and former chairperson of Margao Municipal Council.
“People should read the amendment properly, specially the proposals for taxation,” said Coutinho and cautioned that “urban residents will face huge tax increase as soon as the new council is elected and will have nobody but themselves to blame.”
He said it is right to be agitated about the proposed amendment to the lease holders but also pointed out that many of the lease holders while paying a pittance to the municipalities are actually earning in lakhs by sub letting the premises. The SMC also demanded a check on how migrants are slowly taking control of the market premises belonging to the municipalities.
He said given the fact that municipal council elections are round the corner it was expected that the government would go light on taxation. However, he said municipal residents will receive a shock once the new tax structure is implemented.
He warned that all taxes will be hiked including the sanitation fees and house tax and further added that a new concept of rates is introduced wherein the tax of a flat or premises will not be a fixed one but based on what rent it could be leased out for.
He demanded that instead of using vague terms like rated, etc the government should clearly and specifically announce what the taxes will be and what taxation system would be implemented.
