Systems issues and missing properties had led to CMC’s inability to collect rates worth Rs. 4 billion: Mayor

Colombo Mayor Vraie Balthazaar said issues pertaining to Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and missing properties had led to the council’s inability to collect rates worth Rs 4 billion.
The Mayor told a recent meeting of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) that a survey is being conducted to identify the properties which had gone missing. It was revealed that conversion of residences to business establishments had led to the issue.   
Also she said majority constructions in Colombo are unauthorized.  
During the proceedings, COPA Chairman MP Kabir Hashim raised concerns regarding the persistent arrears, stating:   
“One of the recommendations made last February noted that arrears amounting to Rs. 610 million were due from the Fort Division alone. At that time, the Municipal Council agreed to increase efforts to recover these arrears. However, by June, only Rs. 53 million had been collected. I am not sure if that amount has increased since,” he said.   
He noted that one issue concerned the trend of the collection, and that the total arrears amounted to around four thousand million.   
“The total arrears now stand at around Rs. 4 billion across all 47 divisions. We have requested improvements in recovery. From which divisions are these arrears? How old are they? Which can be collected, and which cannot? That is what we are inquiring about,” the MP added.  
Responding to the Committee, Deputy Municipal Treasurer Nandana Rajapaksha explained that the arrears in the Fort Division were being recovered under the provisions of the Municipal Council Ordinance, primarily by enforcing mechanisms to seize properties of defaulting taxpayers.   
“We had arrears of Rs. 610 million in the Fort Division. There were 3,747 defaulting properties. After issuing demand notices, 94 properties were identified as non-existent. Seizure notices were then sent to 2,914 properties. Of these, 840 properties had arrears exceeding Rs. 100,000, with total warrant costs amounting to Rs. 533 million. We have collected Rs. 108 million from this group. There are also 2,907 properties with arrears below Rs. 100,000, from which Rs. 39 million has been collected. Accordingly, the total amount collected from the Fort Division so far is Rs. 148 million,” he stated.