Decision on water tax hike deferred

Citizens can heave a sigh of relief as the standing committee on Wednesday deferred a discussion on proposals to increase the water tax and implement the capital value-based property tax system.

The proposals were tabled in the standing committee on Wednesday. But there were no discussion on the proposals as the members and the chairman of the standing committee demanded a fresh presentation as to how the water hike will affect the citizens pocket and also how telescopic meter reading will escalate the water bills.

Committee members demanded to know that how the civic administration will collect property tax given the complex demography of the city and also as slums are not yet included in the tax bracket. The chairman of the standing committee asked the civic administration to show a presentation.

“We cannot take such a big decision in haste just because the civic chief wants to hurry the issue. It’s the question of city’s survival,” Shewale said.