Civic body told to take steps to increase revenue

KOZHIKODE: Fifth state finance commission chairman Professor B A Prakash who conducted a sitting at the collectorate conference hall here on Friday urged the city corporation authorities to take steps to increase their revenue. The sitting also observed that though the civic body had carried out revision of property tax, it has failed to register much increase in its income.
The commission chairman also opined that the civic body is implementing the projects in the end of the financial year. The sitting also observed that the civic body is not providing special financial aid to women engaged in door-to-door waste disposal. It also urged the civic body to take steps to allot fund to the Kudumbashree members to run the waste disposal mechanism more effectively. The commission also observed that absence of facility to check the hygienic quality of meat being sold in the meat shops in the corporation limits posing threat to the public health.
Deputy mayor P T Abdul Latheef, health standing committee chairperson Janamma Kunjunni and secretary B K Balaraj who represented the city corporation urged the fifth finance committee chairman to make recommendations before the government to increase the tax, non-tax, user charge, building tax and rent once in a four year. They also urged the chairman to provide provision to impose tax on the buildings and properties of the union government institutions in its limit. The civic body also urged the chairman to make recommendations to increase building permit fee as the civic body couldn’t grant provisions to construct flats and buildings on the locations fall in the limits of the Coastal Regulation Zone. The corporation also said that the state government needs to provide Rs 38 crore as pending pension amount and the delay in releasing amount results in additional financial burden of Rs 6 crore on the corporation every year.
Finance commission secretary T K Soman and deputy secretary B Pradeep Kumar attended the sitting.