Paying more taxes but where's the development? Chennai residents ask

CHENNAI: The Revenue department of the Greater Chennai Corporation is excited about the record collection of Rs 2,750 crore as property tax and professional tax for FY 2024-25.

While tax collectors are ectatic, tax payers attached to budget homes and small residential pockets feel the pinch with the tax eating into their monthly budgets. They fume over poor roads and substandard civic infrastructure.

R Jayaraman, CPM councillor of Ward 4, Tiruvottiyur zone, stated: “The street lights, drinking water and proper roads are lagging in several areas. There is an inefficiency in the administration and budget allocation. Everything is becoming privatised, especially low-income conservancy workers. The local body can be lauded with tax achievement, but the reality is that the public are paying more and not receiving their due.”

S Ravi, a resident of Kolathur, stated that he used to pay Rs 2.63 per square foot but since October 2024, he has been paying 3.40 per square foot. “This is in addition to family’s medical expenses, educational expenses for children, and other miscellaneous expenses that pile up for a common man. Don’t mind paying more taxes if the Corporation provides better services,” Ravi added.

Nagarjunan, general secretary, Alliance of Residents Welfare Associations, recalled its protest over the hike in property tax by 6% last year. “By pressuring people, the record tax collection was achieved. While paying tax is our responsibility, provision of basic facilities should be the primary focus for the local body. Particularly in Anna Nagar West extension, roads and pedestrian pathways are encroached by vendors.”

Concurring with him was D Neelakannan, president of the same association, who added that parked vehicles on roads and pathways posed a perennial challenge. “Retteri-Anna Nagar Road is converted into a make-shift vendor zone, which promotes second-hand car sales,” he stated. “The city lacks quality main roads and bylanes. Several Road Over Bridges (ROB) and subways need overhauling.”

He pointed out that though the Singara Chennai 2.0 scheme and a few other developmental schemes were on the cards, construction of stormwater drains (SWD) eludes Sholinganallur, Perungudi and Velachery. “There is no Metro Water facility in many places in Madhavaram, and also in Sholinganallur and Perungudi,” he averred.

In Ambattur zone, residents opined that though they paid the high property tax, development of the area was not up to the mark. “The bus terminus in Ambattur and parks are poorly maintained. The GCC has allotted Rs 39.30 crore for parks and fields department in the 2025-26 budget. But without identifying the place, parks are sanctioned,” said S Suresh, general secretary, Tiruvengada Nagar Residents Welfare Association Ambattur.

“The Corporation and the State government have been periodically increasing property tax, and the guideline value of roads in Chennai. This spikes the real estate market, but roads are the same with frequent sewer blocks in Central Chennai,” opined civic activist Aarani Srinivasan based in Choolai.

When the issue was raised in the TN assembly by AIADMK MLAs, Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru said that the property tax revision was long due and was hiked to meet the growing demand of the city's infrastructure.