Reportedly the BBMP (Bruhat bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) council currently led by Mayor M Goutham Kumar passed the resolution on tuesday and while the move still has to be approved by the Urban Development Department of the state government, it is likely that the approval will be given, since both the government and the BBMP council are led by the same party the BJP.  Meanwhile officials said the cess is planned to be used for road, street and drain maintenance. 

 

Accordingly a sum of Rs 150 crore is expected to be collected through this, as the BBMP has been facing the heat in the high court over pothole ridden roads and related accidents. However, residents in the city are miffed with the proposal and say this is effectively punishing those who pay their taxes properly. Furthermore this 2% additional cess has been proposed by two previous Mayors too, but was opposed by bjp corporators in the council who were in a majority. A proposal to hike the property tax itself of residential properties by 20% and that of commercial buildings by 25% mooted by the then congress mayor in june 2019, had also failed to get passed by the Council.

 

Moreover sources said with both the government and the BBMP council led by the same party, these deliberations were worked on beforehand and the state government's assent for the same is now only a matter of formality. While BBMP officials say that this financial boost is necessary for the upkeep of road infrastructure, civic activists say BBMP should be looking to improve tax compliance instead of increasing taxes. 

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