: The government is considering imposing property tax on apartments that have a floor area up to 660 sq ft, Minister for Local Administration K.T. Jaleel has said.
Replying to questions in the Assembly on Tuesday, the Minister said the government was of the view that the previous UDF government’s decision to exempt apartments with 660 sq ft while avoiding the houses during revision of property tax was “injustice.” He said the government was in favour of taxing small apartments.
Increasing revenue
The Minister said the government was working out ways to increase own funds without burdening the people to help the local bodies tide over the crisis. Already, discussions had been held with chairpersons of local bodies. Pointing out that the tax list had to be widened, the Minister said the local bodies were not getting any tax from tourist destinations. Quarries and crusher units were giving only licence fee to the local bodies, he said.
The tax arrears due to the local bodies had mounted to Rs.222 crore and recovery of the arrears would solve the present financial crisis to some extent, the Minister told the House.
The Centre would be approached to overcome the anomalies in collecting professional tax from the salaried class.Cholera cases
In reply to a short notice question by Abid Hussain Thangal, Minister for Health K.K. Shyalaja said two cases of cholera had been confirmed in Kuttipuram. The two hotels near the railway station had been closed down and steps had been taken to check the spread of cholera.
