Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) president Zainal Abidin Azim said the council would continue with the penalty charges for those who failed to pay their assessment rates on time.
He said this when asked to comment on the ruling by the Federal Court recently that local authorities did not have the legal right to impose penalty charges on assessment tax defaulters who pay late or failed to pay their assessment rates.
The court was reported to have made the landmark decision on July 18 in favour of Generation Products Sdn Bhd against the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) for continuous imposition of penalty for late settlement of assessment rates since 1985.
Zainal said this was news to his council and that he was unaware of the announcement.
“I’ll have to check and discuss matters concerning assessment with our legal department,” he said.
“Over the next few days, we have to discuss and maybe amend our bylaws or Act. We are waiting for the state government to give us directives.
“As far as we know, imposing the penalty charges has always been a norm for us.”
Meanwhile, a check with the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) revealed that the council does not charge interest on late payment of assessment fees.
PJ mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman said MBPJ only charged a fee for issuing a late notice for unpaid arrears.
According to the website of the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ), it stated that if the owner fails to pay assessment rates within a given deadline, then a penalty of 5% will be imposed on the total arrears.
It stated that a Form E notice will be issued and payment has to be made within 15 days from the date of issuance of notice.
After that, a warrant of arrest will be enforced and a 10% interest rate will be imposed on the entire arrears.
This is followed by an action of sealing and auctioning of the property and later court action.
While it was difficult to reach some MPSJ officers yesterday, its public relations officer Azfarizal Abdul Rashid claimed that the council had always done things according to by-laws and does not carry out unlawful action.
Shah Alam City Council mayor Mazalan Mohd Noor said the judgment did not affect the council’s method of collecting assessment.
He said this was because the council only penalised the errant ratepayers once.
“The errant ratepayers will not be repeatedly penalised for late payment as the council does not practice compounding ‘interest’ while collecting the arrears.”
Mazalan also said the council had not received any directive on whether there was a need to revise its system from the Selangor government.
-TMB
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