Sri Lanka’s Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) has raised serious concerns over the Colombo Municipal Council’s (CMC) failure to collect more than Rs 4 billion in long-overdue assessment tax arrears from within the city limits.
The disclosure was made during a recent parliamentary hearing, where CMC officials were summoned to provide answers on the sluggish pace of tax recovery.
COPA Chairman, MP Kabir Hashim, expressed frustration over the council’s lack of progress, particularly in Colombo’s Fort division, which alone accounts for a significant portion of the unpaid taxes.
“One of our recommendations in February was to collect Rs 610 million from Fort. But by June, only Rs 53 million had been recovered. I’m not sure if that has improved since,” Hashim told officials during the hearing.
He added that a comprehensive breakdown of the arrears, including their age, recoverability, and divisional distribution is still lacking, despite repeated requests.
Responding to the committee, CMC Deputy Municipal Treasurer Nandana Rajapaksa detailed efforts made under the Municipal Councils Ordinance, which includes legal authority to seize property from defaulters.
According to Rajapaksa, Fort division had 3,747 defaulting properties, with 94 no longer in existence.
Seizure notices were issued to 2,914 properties, and within that, 840 properties owed more than Rs 100,000 each, totalling Rs 533 million in warrants.
So far, the council has collected Rs 108 million from these, and Rs 39 million from smaller defaulters, amounting to a total of Rs 148 million recovered in Fort.
Colombo Mayor Vraie Cally Balthazaar, who was also present, assured COPA that corrective measures are being put in place to strengthen enforcement and improve collection processes.
The staggering arrears highlight ongoing issues in municipal revenue collection and administrative oversight, concerns that COPA says must be urgently addressed to protect public finances.
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