Noorazam chairing Johor Baru City Council’s full board meeting.
JOHOR Baru City Council (MBJB) has recorded RM268mil in unpaid taxes.
Mayor Datuk Mohd Noorazam Osman has thus warned that the city council would be going after assessment tax defaulters.
He said about 68% of the outstanding amount were from serviced apartments and office units in the city, 23% came from residential areas and 3% from industries.
“The outstanding amount is quite high and if not handled seriously by the council, it will affect our plans for development, upgrading of infrastructure and facilities, services provided and city planning.
“Enforcement and proactive measures will be taken in the first half of this year by focusing on 30 main areas with the highest outstanding tax totalling RM177mil,” Noorazam said during the city council’s full board meeting.
Property owners were urged to be responsible and settle outstanding taxes.
The mayor highlighted several locations of concern, which included Country Garden Danga Bay, R&F Tanjung Puteri, Tampoi industrial area, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, Stulang, Taman Bayu Puteri, Taman Cahaya Kota Puteri, Taman Setia Tropika, Taman Megah Ria and Kempas Lama.
He also announced that MBJB collected more than RM425mil in revenue last year, giving it a surplus of RM46.45mil.
“The revenue recorded fell short of the targeted amount by 10%, whereby RM315.81mil came from tax collection, RM73.01mil from non-tax revenue and RM36.25mil non-revenue receipts.
“MBJB’s overall expenditure for 2022 was RM378.62mil, including operating expenses of RM228.45mil while the rest was for development expenses,” he said. — By YEE XIANG YUN
