Arrears Missing As Jagtial Tax Collections Dip

KARIMNAGAR: Officials of the Jagtial Municipality have come under criticism over allegations that high-value property tax arrears were removed from online records to improve collection performance at the close of the financial year.

Data shows that against a total demand of Rs 14.01 crore across 27,821 assessments, the municipality collected Rs 7.36 crore, or 54 per cent, down from 65 per cent last year. Amid the shortfall, several non-paying assessments were allegedly deactivated on the portal, reducing the pending amount reflected on the dashboard.

Among the entries no longer visible on the active list are those linked to government establishments, including the district SP office (Rs 23.16 lakh), the SP bungalow (Rs 66,536) and the fire station (Rs 2.17 lakh). Another assessment of about Rs 2 lakh was also found missing. A drop in the number of assessments between March 26 and 27 indicated changes in the live portal records.

Municipal commissioner Spandana denied any irregularity, attributing the changes to technical issues and re-categorisation. She said municipal performance is assessed primarily on private property tax collections and that certain government buildings had been incorrectly listed under private residential categories due to a data entry error.

“The concerned departments had filed revision applications to correct their status. We tried to convert the categories directly, but due to technical issues in the system, they had to be shifted and re-entered under the government category,” she said.

She maintained that the changes were part of a correction process and not an attempt to alter collection data.