Virajpet Town Panchayat Chief Officer A M Sridhar said that consumers owe Rs 1.02 crore tax to Virajpet Town Panchayat in the form of property tax, water tax, trade license and other taxes.
“It is difficult to run the administration. Therefore, a drive will be carried out to recover tax dues. So far, tax dues upto Rs 1 crore have been recovered out of Rs 2.14 crore tax dues. The rest of the dues will be collected,” he said.
A total of 236 out of about 1,498 businessmen in the town have renewed their trade license. The rest 1,262 will be penalised for not renewing the trade licenses and their establishment will be sealed, he added.
The officer further said that property tax of Rs 28.522 lakh is pending to be paid and if not paid before seven days, the water supply to the houses will be disconnected.
Consumers owe Rs 32.11 lakh in water bills. The recovery drive will be carried out in the next seven days and if not paid, notices will be served to the defaulters, he said.
“Also, those who are carrying out business on stalls belonging to Town Panchayat, have to pay a rental due upto Rs 30 lakh. If not paid within seven days, the stalls will be sealed, along with the imposing of fines,” he added.
The chief officer said that the development works cannot be initiated without the payment of taxes. People should cooperate with the Town Panchayat.