Drop tax hike, Belagavi Cantonment residents urge State government

Some residents of the Cantonment area in Belagavi have written to the State government urging it to withdraw the increase in taxes being levied on property in their area in the city.

Members of the Belgaum Cantonment Residents Welfare Association have said that the Cantonment Board had decided to increase taxes exorbitantly from 175 % to 3,400 %.

“This is not only arbitrary and unilateral, but also unprecedented, unparalleled and savage,” Nitin Khot, a member of the association, said in the letter. Such increases are excessive and unfair. This has not been done anywhere in the other Cantonment areas in the country, he said.

Hundreds of residents are shocked at this decision taken by Barchaswa, Executive Officer of the Cantonment Board. He has received over 500 objections to the decision, they said.

“The rise is excessive. For example, the proposed tax increases are 3,469 % and 2,026 % for St. Paul’s School, 1,623 % for St. Joseph’s School, 1,052 % and 774 % for B.K. Model School, 2,008 % for Dr. Sanjay Porwal’s Cardiac Emergency Clinic, 2,328 % for a renovated bungalow that has reduced its plinth area. What is more, these increases have hit us during the worst economic crisis the country is facing after 1991. Two businesses in the Cantonment area have closed down due to losses,” Dr. Khot said.

Since its formation in 1831, the Belgaum Cantonment Board has not hiked its taxes in such an exorbitant manner. The tax rate increase has been between 10 % and 15 %, depending on the rise in the income levels of the town. Of the other Cantonment Boards in the country, the Chennai Cantonment Board has increased taxes from 3.5 % to 7 % and Pune and Secunderabad by 5 %.

In comparison, the Belagavi City Corporation has increased taxes only by 15 %, with a discount of 5 % for taxes paid before April.

Taxes on schools is not justified as Section 111 (2)(b) of the Cantonments Act 2006 exempts State-aided schools from paying taxes.

“We have explained our situation to the CEO in letters submitted to him, but in vain. He has also been insensitive to our demands,” the residents said. They have also written to the Union government seeking the intervention of senior Defence Ministry officials to withdraw the increase.