Residents of Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills will be paying more property tax than those living in Hitec City, Madhapur, Kondapur and Gachibowli, under the new property tax regime.
The GHMC has completed the exercise to affect a hike in property tax and will send the draft proposal to the AP State Property Tax Board and will also place it before the general body meeting, which has the power to revise the tax rates. Most importantly, the municipal corporation will, thereafter, issue a notification giving citizens 15 to 30 days time to submit their objections and suggestions.
It will take up to two months to finalise this procedure. There is some dispute about whether the hike should come into play with retrospective effect, i.e. from October 1, 2012, or from the next financial year, i.e. April 1, 2013.
Sources said the propo-sed increase in tax rates in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills is from the existing Rs 1.25 per sft to a maximum of Rs 3.50 per sft.
In Hitec City and Madhapur, the maximum hike proposed is from the existing 93 paise per sft to Rs 3.50 per sft. In Gachibowli and Kondapur, the rate could go up from the existing 93 paise per sft to Rs 2.80 per sft.
The new tax rates are based on a study of 20 per cent randomly selected properties in each area. A senior official said the tax rates were fixed based on the present rental values area-wise. “We also considered the available civic amenities like drinking water, underground drai-nage, roads, health centres, schools, markets, parks, malls, playgrounds among others to arrive at the tax rate,” the official said. He said many residential areas in Hitec City, Madh-apur, Gachibowli, and Kondapur do not have drainage and water lines, and hence have been taxed less than Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills.