Employees unpaid for months, 3.5 cr taxes unrealised

This has stalled development works and made the staff go without salary for several months, municipal sources said.

Of the outstanding taxes, Bangladesh Railway (BR) owes Tk 2, 73,80,645.

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BR installations cover a major area of the municipality.

The main sources of income of the municipality are holding tax, conservancy tax and revenue from markets. Most of the markets are on railway lands, over which, the municipality has disputes regarding ownership.

A lion share of the holding tax comes from government, semi-government and autonomous bodies.

Besides, the Power Development Board (PDB), Water Development Board, airport have their offices here.

Municipality sources said they gave letters to all the defaulters repeatedly to pay the outstanding taxes, but to no result.

Many offices do not pay taxes for more than 25 days. The municipal authorities even contacted with ministries concerned but to no effect.

Salary of municipal officials and employees are unpaid for several months. The salary bill is about Tk four lakh per month.