NORTH LAKHIMPUR: In a significant move, the North Lakhimpur Municipality Board (NLMB) has decided to roll back the proposed hike in property tax to relief tax payers within its areas.
This was decided in a meeting of NLMB held on Thursday.
The meeting, as advised by local MLA Manab Deka, resolved not to increase property tax beyond 15 per cent at any cost. That means, tax payers have to pay only 15 per cent more of their current property tax to the NLMB.
However the resolution clarified that those tax payers who have been paying property taxes in much lower rates by applying fraudulent methods would have to pay in increased 15 per cent of the taxes of their actual amount from their newly assessed properties based on earlier rates.
MLA Deka has also stressed upon scaling up the exercise rather than increasing the tax rate, that is bringing more town dwellers in to the property tax records of North Lakhimpur Municipal Board.
The meeting informed that Property tax had been collected on a yearly basis by NLMB under the Assam Municipal Act, 1956 and allied fears by the tax paying public.
The meeting further announced that the current exercise would eliminate low tax collection by NLMB and digitized the property holdings in NLMB area.
The present excercise also aims ti reduce property tax evasions and corruptions in the civic body.
The meeting also informed that thr current assessment exercise is a pre requisite for availing future 15th Finance Commission Fund and other governmental financial assistances by NLMB.
It may be mentioned that NLMB, in sync with the pan-Assam exercise to carry out assessment, re-assessment of property taxes in every urban local bodies carried out the assessment and reassessment of properties in North Lakhimpur town during the month September 20 to December 17, 2022. Prior to that no such comprehensive assessment was carried out by the civic body.
The entire exercise has also covered digitalization of property tax records by the NLMB. The civic body is alsi being provided by a centralized web portal by Assam Government, where self assessment, assessment by staff, detailed teams as well as geotagging of the properties could be carried out and uploaded. Meanwhile, North Lakhimpur Municipal Board also appeals to the public to please visit the office of the North Lakhimpur Municipal Board to check the draft publication of property details before onwards submission to the government within this week. The NLMB also announced a fine of Rs 100 for spitting on roads in the twon with effect from today.