Steep hike in property tax upsets Secunderabad Cantonment residents

SECUNDERABAD: Several residents are criticising SCB claiming that it has hiked the property tax as part of its triennial revision (2018-21).
A group of taxpayers had even met SCB president and requested him to look into the issue as they are facing financial stress due to the pandemic.

“The proposed hike ranges between 1,000 and 9,500 percent,” the owners mentioned in the plea submitted to the president.SCB revises the property tax every three years. Once annual rateable value (ARV) is completed, the tax department serves fresh demand notices to the residential and commercial owners, who should pay the tax within 30 days. So far, 500 demand notices have been served and many of the recipients are shocked with the steep hike. Some alleged that SCB’s CEO has not followed the procedure mentioned in the Cantonment Act 2006. “A public notice has to be issued before the revision of property tax. But they did not follow the rules and instead selected a few properties for revision,” an owner told TOI.
SCB chief executive officer, B Ajith Reddy, said they will consider the requests of property owners. “Those who feel that the increase is high, can appeal through writing by raising objections to the proposed assessment. We will verify the records and decrease ARV,” he said.