Thamilarusu asks if buying a holiday home is a productive use of MBSJ’s funds.
A LOCAL councillor has questioned the need for an RM860,000 allocation by Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ) to buy a holiday property in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.
Zone 24 councillor Thamilarusu Sandayan asked during MBSJ’s full board meeting if the purchase was a productive use of funds.
“MBSJ had a holiday home in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, but it was poorly maintained and was recently sold.
“Why is the city council spending a huge sum to buy another property even further away?”
In response to Thamilarusu, Subang Jaya mayor Datuk Mohd Fauzi Mohd Yatim said the house was meant for MBSJ employees’ use when holidaying in Terengganu.
“The proposal for the purchase has been approved and a site visit will be done soon.
“A contractor will also be hired to maintain the property,” he said, adding that MBSJ employees could rent the house for RM200 a night.
Mohd Fauzi did not elaborate further on the issue.
On another matter, Mohd Fauzi said MBSJ had completed a study on new assessment rates.
“The details will be announced later. The latest rates are expected to be implemented in January next year,” he added.
Mohd Fauzi said MBSJ had collected RM72mil in assessment tax as of March 31 this year.
He added that the figure was nearly 80% of the total amount owed to the city council in the first term.
A task force, he said, would be formed to identify and remind property owners with assessment arrears to pay up.
In total, Mohd Fauzi said MBSJ had some RM98mil in accumulated arrears and had recovered RM17.3mil as of March 31.
On Dec 6 last year, the Selangor state executive council gave local authorities the green light to carry out revaluation exercise of assessment rates.
The last evaluation exercise was done in 1997.
Last week, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) announced that it would implement new rates next year for 180,000 properties comprising 85,000 landed units and 95,000 strata units.
For unmodified strata properties, the rates could increase by up to 25% while renovated properties in Ampang Jaya could be subject to higher figures.
MPAJ president Dr Ani Ahmad had said property owners had until May 15 to file appeals.
