BMA eyes boosting its tax income

Presiding over the opening of a Bangkok seminar, Jumpol said the city still had limited powers and insufficient income to meet its expenses. Of the total budget allocated, only 23 per cent is directly collected by BMA, while the rest is part of the national budget.
In the 2014 fiscal year, BMA’s income was Bt70 billion and is expected to reach Bt85 billion in the next fiscal year.
Jumpol noted that BMA had to raise its direct income or seek funding for investment in infrastructure, mass transport, flood prevention, road network as well as environment rehabilitation, healthcare services and education.
The city had previously hired Thammasat University’s Faculty of Economics to conduct a feasibility study on boosting its income.
Yesterday, Jumpol said that, upon study’s conclusion yesterday, the BMA was set to take short-term loans. It is also eyeing to amend related laws in the mid- and long-term phase to allow BMA’s loan guarantees for its projects. The borrowing will take into account the city’s ability to repay over a 30-year period.
The city will also develop a clearer taxation map because Bangkok has 2.5 million plots, but only 600,000 landowners paid land tax, Jumpol said. The BMA will also coordinate with the Treasury Department to ensure that land assessment is in line with real market price, which would also allow the city to collect more tax, he added.