It is very important that the UNP administration of the CMC is able immediately to grapple with a whole host of problems at the same time, most of which are political and have assistance from the UNP top brass to help make this happen.
What I mean by political is that the turf of the CMC has to be ascertained over which they have control. Namely bodies such as the UDA. For example there is confusion as to who will be responsible for the maintenance of the Vihara Maha Devi Park. There is talk that Ghotabaya is going to wrest it out of the CMC and take it over! Now why would he do it unless he had a grand plan for that property. Well then the UNP has to have a self financing plan which will earn revenue to pay for its upkeep without dipping into the CMC funds. They can have a charge for the services the park provides, like the Childrens Playground and the Amphitheater, Just to use an example. Remember that Ghotabaya removed all the flower pot sellers from the park and dumped them near the Waters Edge in a property that was no more than a muddy paddy field, and that is not part of the CMC.
Other areas are Government Buildings both of the Defense forces and also Ministerial buildings that are used both for offices and housing. It is important that the revenue base is maximized. So all the rules with regard to which properties are exempt have to be looked at carefully and a fight for all property to be liable for rates be placed under some form of legal framework.
If the government has given rates exemptions for tourist hotels, then the shadow rates must be collected from the Central Government to fill the void.Government and Private schools may have a different basis for rating and therefore be paying lower rates. Then the collections of these rates. One can find massive frauds by government officials in collection of rates.
On this basis the advice can take the form of pages, but it is predicated on the fact that the Revenue can be increased by more than 100% if the rules of the CMC are adopted and all the dues are collected. So please as a first task employ a team of consultants to review this area which is bound to horrify many of the CMC employees who are currently taking bribes in order to under report the rateable values of the properties in the CMC.
Do what is necessary as it is the wealthy that are cheating the most on the rates and see that it is properly assessed and collected, you will then have no problem in the running of the Council in an efficient manner once the money is of no object.
No comments:
Post a Comment