Ong says residential and commercial properties are seeing a drop in the assessment tax rates.
Pengerang Municipal Council (MPP) has introduced an assessment tax rate of 0.01% on 1,068 property owners in Taman Bayu Damai, Johor.
Council president Zihan Ismail said this was the first time that the council was implementing tax collection there.
She said the council had spent more than RM9mil to provide amenities in Taman Bayu Damai from 2017 until last September, without collecting any taxes.
“The 1,068 property owners are villagers who have been relocated to Taman Bayu Damai to make way for the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex project.
Zihan says the council had initially planned to begin tax collection in Taman Bayu Damai in 2020.“We also understand that the majority of them are poor families, which is why we have introduced a special rate of 0.01% in Taman Bayu Damai, where the highest tax amount they will pay is only RM40 per year.
“The council hopes that with this (tax collection), it can provide better services for the people, besides making it easier to request for a budget from the government.”
Zihan said this after a townhall session with Taman Bayu Damai residents.
She said the council initially planned to start tax collection in 2020 but it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“MPP currently has 19,230 property holders, and we have introduced a tax rate of 0.06% for residential areas and 0.45% for industrial areas.
“Since we issued the notice on Oct 5, we received 74 objections to the new rate,” she said, adding that the property owners who objected to the rate would be called for a discussion.
The objection period is from Oct 5 until Nov 2, she added.
Zihan said the tax collected from industries was given back to the people in the form of improvements, renovations and amenities, which also benefitted residential areas in Pengerang.
MPP councillor Ong Kooi Jin said residential and commercial properties in the area were seeing a drop in assessment tax rates, while industrial properties were seeing a hike of between 100% and 150%.
“In the case of Pengerang, those who own residential and commercial properties are actually enjoying a drop in the assessment rate.
“However, properties in industrial areas are seeing a significant increase.
“Unfortunately, there are some properties that are commercial in nature but fall under the industrial category.
“This is where the bulk of complaints are coming from, as the owners have to fork out more for assessment tax now,” said Ong.
