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KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed hike in assessment rates in the city will be deferred indefinitely and the period for obtaining public feedback extended to March next year, Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk J Loga Bala Mohan announced yesterday.
The deadline for objections was earlier set for Dec 17 as the new assessment rates were due to come into effect on Jan 1.
City Hall had defended the revision of the rate as necessary, which came as a shock to residents in the city, since the tax has remained the same for the past 21 years.
“Don’t worry... I have good news. The revision has been postponed from January to after March next year,” said Loga Bala during the committee stage debate of Budget 2014.
Opposition parliamentarians from the Federal Territories have been raising the issue of the drastic increase in the rates after being inundated by thousands of complaints in the past two weeks.
According to property owners in the city, the hike in assessment rate varies depending on the area.
Some reported that the increase was between 20% and 30% while in some cases, whopping increases of 100% to 300% were reported.
Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor previously argued that the hike was timely as City Hall has not revised its rates for the past 21 years, while property values in the city have tripled in the last decade.
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 28, 2013.
