KOTA KINABALU: The Sandakan Municipal Council (SMC) has threatened to drag ratepayers to court over some RM33 million owed in property assessment payments.
Its president Wong Foo Tin said only 58.3% of the households had paid up as of June 15.
He threatened to publicly reveal the names of the defaulters.
“SMC will be publishing the names of those who have yet to pay in the newspapers and social media.
“We are in the midst of putting out the names of those who have outstanding assessment payments into the CTOS system. The council will also stop its services to those who have not paid up,” he said in a statement today
Wong said the council would be unable to function at its best without the required resources.
“SMC is dependent on 75% of the revenue from the assessment collected from ratepayers to pay salaries, as well as to fund operations, maintenance and purchase of assets.
“A low income would cause the council to be unable to provide the best service to the community,” he said, lamenting that residents wanted the best service but were unwilling to pay for it.
He said the people should take advantage of the Sabah government’s 20% rebate on property assessment in lieu of the Covid-19 situation announced earlier this year.
