Calangute villagers wants panchayat to retain house tax rates

Calangute: The Calangute panchayat will not raise the house tax for residents at present, said sarpanch Joseph Sequeira during a special gram sabha held on Sunday to discuss govt notification on revising house tax rates.The meeting saw villagers making various suggestions, which the sarpanch said will be considered at the general body meeting of panchayat before making any decision on increasing the house tax as recommended by state govt. The sarpanch said that even though the notification was issued in Feb 2022, the panchayat has not increased the house tax.“Residents who were paying Rs 25 as house tax can continue to pay the same amount.

If they have built additional rooms to give on rent, they have to pay Rs 60 per sqm. The rate is higher for large hotels and resorts,” Sequeira said.Villagers recommended that the panchayat continue with the existing rates and only raise the tax for hotels and places owned by outsiders.With the new rates to be calculated per sqm, the sarpanch said it would be a difficult task to verify the size of the houses in the absence of building plans. “It would also be difficult to undertake physical measurement of all structures for fixing the tax amount,” he said, adding, “Any decision by the panchayat will be as per the Goa Panchayat Raj Act and with legal advice.”Referring to Calangute MLA Michael Lobo’s suggestion not to increase the house tax, Sequeira said the MLA should have raised the issue in the assembly and gotten the notification withdrawn.