40% property owners miss tax payments in BCC

Belagavi: A concerning trend has emerged in Belagavi city, with nearly 40% of property owners failing to clear their property tax dues during the 2025-26 financial year, raising serious questions about revenue recovery and administrative efficiency.According to sources in Belagavi City Corporation (BCC), the city has a total of 1,66,178 registered properties. Of these, property tax dues of only 95,829 have been cleared, with the list of defaulters including private residential, commercial, educational and even govt establishments. This, despite repeated claims of financial discipline and improved revenue collection. During 2025-26, BCC managed to collect Rs 70.8 crore in property tax — an increase of just Rs 1.3 crore compared with the previous year, indicating only limited improvement in enforcement. The corporation had initially set a collection target of Rs 78 crore, plus Rs 11 crore in arrears. However, with actual collections falling significantly short, a substantial revenue gap persists, largely attributed to widespread non-payment by property owners. Officials acknowledge that the low recovery rate has impacted the corporation's financial planning and its ability to fund development works. The situation has also put the performance of the revenue department into question. For the 2026-27 financial year, property tax collection target has been raised to Rs 85 crore. With more than Rs 7 crore expected to be added as arrears, the total recovery target is likely to exceed Rs 92 crore. With a growing backlog and persistent non-compliance, the corporation is now under mounting pressure to strengthen enforcement measures and bridge the widening revenue gap.