Kannegowdana Koppalu residents were caught unaware on Thursday when officials of Mysuru City Corporation landed on their doorsteps to check receipts for the property tax paid by them as part of a week-long special drive to verify records and collect dues from defaulters.
KG Koppal is famous for its dairy farming, kusti pailwans and political activities. However, according to officials, the ward also has the highest number of property tax defaulters. In order to collect the huge pending tax from defaulters, the entire staff from the zonal office of the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has decided to stay put in the locality for an entire week.
As part of the drive, in a first, officers from several departments of the zonal office will camp at a ward for an entire week to collect the long pending property tax from the defaulters. The authorities, during the programme, will also address the problems regarding Khata transfer, uploading property details online and others.
MCC officials claimed that the property tax collection drive will be launched from November 4 and will be carried out for a week. The authorities have already held meetings with the leaders and residents to create awareness on tax payment. The area is dominated by the Vokkaliga community represented by BJP leader L Nagendra.
KG Koppal (ward 42) corporator M Shivakumar told TOI that the ward has earned a bad reputation of having highest property tax defaulters in the city. “I am trying to get rid of the bad name. People failed to pay the tax here due to the negligence of officers. Officials delay transferring Khata or make people stand for hours in queue to pay the tax. Around 1,600 houses have pending tax amount of around Rs 12 crore in the ward,” he said.
Shivakumar said the defaulters who have huge pending amounts will be given permission to complete the payment in three installments. The entire zone 3 office staff will stay put in Siddapajji Temple in the ward for tax collection, he added.
“If the resident does not pay the pending tax amount, we will start disconnecting the services. The MCC has already collected Rs 80 crore till date from 65 wards, and is expected to reach the target,” said MCC commissioner Gurudatta Hegde.