BELAGAVI: The Belagavi City Corporation (BCC) collected ₹70.8 crore in property tax for the fiscal year 2025-26, marking a slight rise of ₹1.3 crore from the ₹69.5 crore collected in 2024-25.
Despite this marginal increase, the civic body again fell short of its revenue target. The revenue department aimed for ₹78 crore this year, in addition to ₹11.4 crore from the previous year, resulting in a total target of ₹89.4 crore, which was not achieved.
Officials, including City Corporation Commissioner Kartik M and Revenue Deputy Commissioner Sidhu Hulloli, made extensive efforts to boost collections. Multiple review meetings were conducted, specific targets were assigned to revenue staff, and show-cause notices were issued to those not meeting 80% of their targets. Nevertheless, officials pointed to various administrative duties as significant reasons for the shortfall.
Throughout the year, revenue staff were heavily engaged in election-related tasks, including voter list verification, surveys, and census work, which limited their focus on tax collection.
Looking forward, the challenge is expected to grow. For the fiscal year 2026-27, the corporation has set a base target of ₹85 crore for house tax collections. Adding over ₹7 crore in pending dues from 2025-26 brings the total target to over ₹92 crore, placing considerable pressure on the revenue department.
Moreover, the first phase of the national census is currently underway, which will again require involvement from revenue personnel. Officials are concerned that balancing recovery targets with additional administrative responsibilities may continue to strain staff capacity.
