LG workers want abolished taxes restored

Association concerned over revenue source reductions

SWABI:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Employees Association has demanded of the provincial government to restore the abolished taxes of local bodies, including the one per cent property tax and license fees.

They also called for the reversal of the establishment of building control authorities in Local Governments to address the concerns of employees and pensioners. If these concerns are not addressed, employees and pensioners will protest at the provincial level, and the provincial government will be held responsible.

These views were expressed in a joint press statement by provincial leaders of the association, Shaukat Ali Anjum, Shaukat Kayani, Haji Anwar, Kamal Marwat, Haji Niaz Ali Khan, Suleman Hoti, Mehboob Allah, and Raheel Ahmed. They stated that the provincial government has crippled the Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMAs).

They said that in the name of providing relief to the public, the government is sacrificing the TMAs. In 2001, under the pretext of transferring powers to the grassroots level, the staff of AD local government and the staff and pensioners of former District Councils were handed over to the TMAs.

With the establishment of Rescue 1122, instead of adjusting the municipal fire brigade staff into Rescue 1122, their own people were accommodated, and the fire brigade staff was left with the TMAs.

In 1999, the octroi tax was abolished, but the staff was left with the municipality. Similarly, in the year 2013, the district councils were once again dissolved, and the staff, including pensioners, were handed over to the TMAs, they said.

The responsibility for paying their salaries and pensions was placed on the Tehsil Municipal Administrations which proved to be a real burden.

In the years 2019 and 2020, the two per cent property tax for TMAs was abolished for two years, effectively sacrificing the TMAs once again. Additionally, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the trade licenses for TMAs were also abolished. In 2021 and 2022, upon the demand of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Employees Federation, the two per cent property tax was reinstated.

However, from July 1, 2024, once again in the name of providing relief to the public, the local councils have been made scapegoats by reducing the property tax from two per cent to one per cent.

In this manner, by eliminating the sources of revenue for the LGs, these institutions have been rendered useless.

Local government bodies are no longer able to ensure the payment of salaries and pensions to their employees because the revenue sources of TMAs have been gradually reduced.

Additionally, the extra burden of employees from district councils and the staff of Assistant Directors LGs has been handed over to TMAs, further burdening these local bodies financially.

Now, the provincial government is preparing to establish provincial-level building control authorities to accommodate its blue-eyed boys.

They said that this move will result in local government employees being rendered surplus, and the revenue sources of LGs becoming part of the provincial government which is completely unacceptable.

Consequently, instead of increasing the revenue sources of LG to make them self-sufficient, this will lead to a decrease in their income, causing significant concern among the employees and pensioners of these local bodies.