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An analysis by TOI shows that outdoor advertising, property tax reassessment, arrear recovery, professional tax and regulated parking could together raise the corporation’s annual revenue from around ₹1,447 crore in 2026-27 to about ₹2,000 crore in the next fiscal. Once a 20.7sqkm municipality, it now covers about 85sqkm across five zones and 70 wards, with a population of nearly 10 lakh. Of the assessed properties, only 42.4% of owners pay their tax in full. The civic body also has a large pool of arrears, running up to ₹200 crore. The proportion of annual taxpayers increased from 56% in 2023-24 to 58.2% in 2025-26. Experts say a fresh assessment could increase the number of assessed properties to around four lakh, generating ₹100 crore more revenue. A regulated policy, with a parking complex, could generate up to ₹84 crore annually. At present, 1,22,384 salaried professionals contribute about ₹40 crore. The corporation now gets about ₹85 crore from vacant land tax, profession tax, water charges, sewerage charges, UGSS and other non-tax revenue. Better assessment and collection could raise this pool to ₹156 crore.
Property tax could be the biggest source of additional revenue, a senior corporation official said. In Tambaram, a commercial building springs up, another floor is added to a house and a vacant stretch along a busy road turns into a parking lot almost every month. Yet much of this does not show up in the revenue records. Five years after it was upgraded from a Chennai suburban municipality to a corporation, Tambaram’s revenue increase has been lukewarm, as the civic body has not expanded its tax and non-tax revenue base smartly. Even so, property records have not kept pace. Commercial establishments in areas such as Radial Road and West Tambaram have converted vacant spaces into parking areas. At least one lakh vehicles pass through the stretch daily. Professional tax also remains under-assessed. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Chennai | Silver Rate in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai | Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Petrol Price in Chennai | Diesel Price in Chennai | CNG Price in Chennai | LPG Price in Chennai