To help gram panchayats (GP) get adequate resources, the RDPR department has backed the proposal for revising property tax rates and bringing un-surveyed properties into the tax net. Despite the economic hardship caused by the pandemic, residents and industries in rural and semi-urban areas may have to pay more tax. The departments of rural development & panchayat raj (RDPR), urban development and municipal administration plan to impose higher property tax rates and user charges for basic amenities. The government also has plans for metered water supply at households in villages, while efforts are on to provide them with tap connection. RDPR minister KS Eswarappa said, “GPs hardly get about Rs 1 crore in the form of annual grants, which is not enough for them to ensure infrastructure development and good administration. To make them self-reliant, we are proposing to empower them to fix property rates, which can be revised periodically. Also, they will be able to impose user charges for amenities like water supply,”. As per Centre’s guidelines, local bodies should notify floor rates of property tax in consonance with the guidance value of properties and increase them once in four years. The same rule is applicable to user charges for providing water, drainage and sewage facilities. By complying with these guidelines, Karnataka will be eligible for additional borrowing of 0.25 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP). The state is entitled to borrow 1 per cent of GSDP for rolling out these reforms, apart from a periodic hike in power tariff. RDPR commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis said that the proposals were still in the discussion stage and property tax with revised rates was being collected on an experimental basis in select GPs in districts such as Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Shivamogga and Dakshina Kannada.