'Households yet to clear about Rs 1 cr property tax dues in Balurghat'

Balurghat: Trinamool Congress-led Balurghat civic board has taken up an initiative to collect pending property tax from the households covering all 25 wards. According to an official source, many households have not yet paid the said dues for over around 15 to 20 years, reaching the amount over a crore now.

"The concerned civic board has already started sending the official letters to the owners of the houses mentioning their pending dues. They have been directed to pay the amount within 15 days after receiving the official letter. Legal action will be taken by the board against them if the dues are not paid within the stipulated time," said the source.

The source said the civic board will send a thanks giving letter to those house owners who have paid their property taxes in due time.

"Following the financial crisis as faced by the board for the lack of money, the initiative has been initiated so that the crisis can be overcome before the upcoming Durga puja festival," said the source.

The source said the development works have been hampered following the acute financial crunch.

"The pending property tax from the households is now reaching to Rs one crore while the dues have reached to Rs 4.70 crore from the government offices and other institutions situated under the civic body area. A few days ago, official letters were sent to those offices and institutions directing them to pay the dues as early as possible," the source said.

There are around 25,000 households under the civic body. Many traders have not paid their due property tax in due time, it is learnt. Notably the tax collection has not started in the newly-introduced wards.