Pay up or face penalty, Ipoh mayor tells rate defaulters

IPOH (Nov 5): The Ipoh City Council's (MBI) enforcement unit has started taking action against owners who failed to settle their assessment rates, says mayor Datuk Zamri Man.

He said 69,487 notices under Section 147 of the Local Government Act 1976 had been issued to warn owners that they could face punitive action if they failed to settle the outstanding payments.

A Detention Warrant (Form F) to seize mobile assets had also been issued to owners who failed to respond to the notices.

"Owners facing difficulty in settling their taxes are encouraged to meet and discuss with MBI officers for an appropriate solution.

"Those who are able but have not settled the payments are also encouraged to do so immediately to avoid enforcement action," Zamri said at MBI's monthly full board meeting yesterday.

He said in September alone, the council's valuation and property management department had valued 504 premises with a cumulative annual value of over RM2 million. The increase in assessment rates for these lots are RM356,552.

He said up to September 30, there were 289,918 registered premises with an annual value of more than RM80.1 million. The increase in assessment rates for these were more than RM12.5 million.

"The assessment rates for next year will be released on November 23 to facilitate early payment by owners," he said.

On the council's revenue, Zamri said RM173 million was recorded as at September, which is 95% of the RM182.3 million targeted revenue in this year's budget.

"The council has spent some 63%, or RM114 million, from the allocated budget as at September due to operation expenditure increasing on an annual basis.

"Administration and development costs until September have also increased by RM8 million compared to last year, which was at RM124 million or 68% of the allocated budget," he said. -- The Malaysian Insider