Tirupati: Botcha Satyanarayana defends hike in property tax

Tirupati: Defending the new property tax system introduced in the State recently, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Botcha Sathyanarayana maintained that it will not affect the taxpayers as there is cap of 15 per cent in a hike.

Speaking to media persons, he criticised the opposition parties for making hue and cry over new tax system and added that when compared to other States it was very less.

"Opposition parties are unnecessarily taking up the issue including user charges for door-to-door collection of garbage and also property tax hike which is very much less than other States as a cap of 15 per cent has been fixed," he stated.

The Minister said the government has taken the decision of introducing new taxation system in the State after getting complete report from the committee appointed for this purpose which studied the system already being implemented in other States before submitting their report.

He said Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has put special interest and is keen on developing temple city Tirupati. On the contentious river water dispute between the two Telugu States, he said it would be sorted out amicably soon.

Earlier, he held a review meeting on the ongoing development works in Tirupati Municipal Corporation along with Mayor Dr Sirisha, Commissioner P S Girisha, Deputy Mayors Mudra Narayana and Abhinay Reddy where he discussed about the smart city works in progress. He was explained about the Smart City works through Power Point Presentation.

The Minister expressed satisfaction over the corporation officials' efforts in the implementation of the waste management system iin the city and also lauded city MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy for playing a key role in accelerating development works in Tirupati. Corporators and municipal officials were present.