Pune: City mayor Manjusha Nagpure on Monday announced setting up of a committee to look into the issues faced by citizens from merged areas regarding property tax. She said the committee will hold discussions with representatives from merged areas and come up with suggestions on property tax.The state govt suspended collection of property tax from the merged areas after citizens complained that high taxes were levied on residential and non-residential properties. Nagpure said the PMC would seek guidance from the state govt on the issue.During the meeting, the representatives and citizens complained that high taxes were being levied on properties. They said that property taxes were levied without considering the annual rateable value (ARV) of neighboring villages and demanded that taxes be levied according to the tax structure followed by then gram panchayat of each area. The representatives said heavy taxation was an injustice to citizens from the merged areas as PMC had not provided the necessary infrastructure.The representatives also pointed out that “adequate” provision of funds for infra projects was missing in the recently tabled draft civic budget for 2026-27.Nagpure appealed to representatives and citizens from the merged areas to submit their written suggestions and opinions to the committee. She said the committee will decide a suitable course of action after discussing their concerns and also seek guidance from the state govt.The newly elected corporators from merged areas had demanded a special meeting to discuss property tax related issues during first general body meeting of PMC.
