VIJAYAWADA: Even as most of the urban local bodies (ULBs) in the State, which are in the list of top 10 contributors to tax collection, have fared better this year, the top two contributors Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada ULBs have seen a decline of 6.8 per cent and 8.3 per cent in collection so far this year compared to the corresponding period last year.
The overall property tax collection, however, is up by 19 per cent, and water charges collection by 34 per cent, according to the Municipal Administration Department’s revenue dashboard. While Visakhapatnam ULB contributed Rs 221.58 crore till March 12 in the last financial year, its cumulative collection as of Friday stood at Rs 206.59 crore, down by 6.8 per cent this fiscal. The collection is just 22.4 per cent of the proportional and total tax demand of Rs 922.19 crore. Similarly, Vijayawada ULB, which has a total demand of Rs 298.44 crore, has managed to collect Rs 88.79 crore this fiscal as against Rs 96.82 crore last financial year.
The other eight of the top 10 -- Guntur, Nellore, Tirupati, Kurnool, Rajamahendravaram, Kakinada, Anantapur and Kadapa -- saw an increase in the collection with Kurnool and Nellore ULBs recording the highest of 40.7 per cent and 31 per cent. Kandukur, Nuzvid, Ponnur, Mandapet and Jangareddygudem saw over 80 per cent decline in their tax collection and figured in the first few places in the list of bottom 10 tax contributors. Municipal administration officials said that they expect the collection to improve in the coming weeks as the fiscal year is set to end.
Meanwhile, the cumulative property tax collection saw 19.1 per cent increase this financial year compared to last fiscal. As against the targeted Rs 2,951 crore, the department has collected Rs 1,072 crore this financial year. Last year on March 12, it was Rs 900.41 crore. The water charges collection, which has a target of Rs 561.22 crore, stood at Rs 195.74 crore this year as against last year’s Rs 146.1 crore.