it will be more credible if you can shed some light on your background.

nevertheless, i'll play along.

do enlighten us on whether the blogger have stated accurately and correctly on matters pertaining to KL assessment rates.

1st post:
http://www.tongkooiong.com/2013/12/dbkl-as...s-and_1247.html

and 2nd post:
http://www.tongkooiong.com/2013/12/dbkl-as...ies-and_28.html

thank you.

My specific questions are the same as raised by the blogger which I will repost here for you to answer:

"To address the unhappiness of Kuala Lumpur residents, we hope DBKL will provide further clarity and transparency on the following questions :-

a) How much more assessment tax revenue will DBKL actually get after the revised assessment value and rates? The amount stated by DBKL appears understated relative to the scale of increases most of us will pay. If that is the case, are some residents getting far lower assessment tax than others?

b) What is the basis of computing assessment value? I know it is rental income (implied or actual) but what are the reliable sources of information or database used? DBKL should make the entire list of assessment values for all properties in KL available on the Internet. This will allow every resident the ability to check their assessment value against all others, in the interest of fairness and transparency.

c) A failure to be transparent would likely give the impression of possible biases in the way assessment values are determined, leading some residents to feel they are being penalized for choices they previously made.

d) How will the additional collections be spent? Tax payers have the right to demand accountability and responsibility. DBKL plans big spending under its 2014 Budget, but what are they for, and are they justified? Should DBKL be embarking on a spending spree when the whole country – including the Federal Government -- is tightening the belt? Why are its spending patterns and budgets so different from the Federal Government’s? As I have written in previous articles on this issue, DBKL is already spending more than other municipalities per person.

e) Are Kuala Lumpur residents also now expected to pick up DBKL’s bill for development expenditure, via the higher assessment taxes? Development expenditure for Kuala Lumpur has always been funded from the Federal government’s Development Budget, for which residents are already paying high personal income and corporate taxes. If so, then it amounts to new taxation."

To add on, what is DBKL's plan to reduce manpower since statistics have clearly shown that DBKL is having one of the highest staff to population ratio in the WORLD!

Kindly refrain from using phrases such as "I believe", "it was noted from", etc.
It lacks credibility and besides, quite a number here have already requested for some credibility from your end. A simple attachment showing something ought to give you more creditworthiness in all your replies.

I would like to strongly refute this statement of yours. With more application for developments or refurbishment, developers are subjected to development and planning charges. These also would include contributions to ISF and DBKL security fund.
You claim DBKL have built roads at a cost of RM170mil. But how much of the RM170mil were from DBKL own fund or is it collection from others i.e. Development and planning charges.
Some if not most are basically contributed by developers.
Kindly advise whether the pedestrian walkway from Pavillion to KL Convention Centre is funded by DBKL or Petronas?
Roads. Potholes. Etc. It is to my understanding that each excavation on the surface requires a permit + deposit to undertake these tasks. Despite this, why are roads still so unpleasant within the city? More often than not, I have personally been asked many a times by tourists nearby KLCC/Jalan Bukit Bintang on why aren't the roads in a better shape when these are supposedly Malasyia's most iconic street/area?
Rivers. Are these under DBKL or JPS or DID's jurisdiction in terms of maintenance? If you are doing it on behalf of other department, why not backcharge the party at fault? Why use the KL Citizen funds instead?
Traffic System. What traffic system? How much does this accounts for the overall budget?
Pedestrian Walks. How much was contributed from ISF fund collected?
Public Parks. How much was commission in the past 5 years? How much was spend on landscaping alone in the city?
Recreational centers, sports hall. Again at what cost and statistics of benefits reaped from these ventures? These venues are usually funded by other departments and handed over local councils to maintain. Maintenance charges can be recouped vide rental charges. Why are so many centers such as badminton courts, squash courts, the velodromme in such bad condition with practically no maintenance at all?

I look forward to your precise and detailed replies on queries raised above.
Thank you.

Thanks for the replies but you left out the following:

"To add on, what is DBKL's plan to reduce manpower since statistics have clearly shown that DBKL is having one of the highest staff to population ratio in the WORLD!"

To your item 5, can you kindly provide development charges collected in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 respectively? Somehow, 2013 does not seem to be decreasing in any way.

The process of calling for hearing have already commenced. I have received some notices but I fear I would not be able to attend given that notices were far too short (less than 48 hours notice in my case), and hearing is set to be middle of a work day. I attended once previously and I regret to inform that it is highly ineffective with more than 2 hours waiting time, etc.
The results is also far from satisfactory.

agree.
too many white elephants around.
many of those hawker centres or sports centre totally underused.
not because they don't want to but because of many restriction.
why all hawker centre by dbkl built are purely halal? non-muslim are contributing to these funds too.
why can't people book your sports centre easily? must go through counter and sometimes need to pay undertable to secure bookings? and no longer than one month booking at a time?

I disagree that DBKL requires the existing manpower to do so.
Statistics have proven and shown other more renowned world class cities are operating at much less staff.
Based on your replies here, are you stating that decrease of manpower IS NOT AN OPTION to DBKL at all?

I requested for historical revenue stemming from development charges, not "projected decrease in the future".
This is to substantiate your claims of a decrease in the first place.
While land may decrease, but value increases. Development charge is based on land value, no? Hence revenue WOULD increase if same or even less amount of projects commence year to year.

Since you refuse to extract it, i have taken the liberty to extract it for your perusal to refute your earlier claims:

(in RM'mil)
2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014
assessment 755.08; 783.68; 810.53; 880.5; 1,130
kawalan binaan & perancangan 116; n/a; 239.7; 270; 272.5
*figure not available for development charge in year 2011?

the stats clearly shows an uptrend for revenue from development charge.
while assessment may have witness an increse in close to 50% within 2010 to 2014, but development charge has witness an outstanding 235% growth in the same period!

i rest my case!

while you claim to explain the rationale of the need to increase cost, it's cleverly and overly convenient you chose to ignore cost cutting measures. to me, it is a biased opinion to begin with.

This post has been edited by kochin: Jan 7 2014, 11:43 AM

i fully agree with you hence it is important to spread awareness to gen y who prefer to read postings in lyn.
if yours and my message gets across into their thick skulls, it would be another battle won!

what to expect with mentality of "if only 30% residents object to increase in assessment rates, means they agree!".


peace bro. i shall stop my rants in this thread.

boss, you ask him for wat.
you should know better lah.

for commies and/or resi, you can use a separate form to apply for reduction for non-tenanted buildings.
this can be done vide submittals of utilities bills for 3 months to show prove of low/non usage. this is to proof that there's no tenant or usage of the property.
the same can be applied for vacant land.


other than that, there's a separate form for application for own stay, retirees or handicapped personnels.
rather than advising you guys to go to dbkl and get the form, a more sensible approach would be to attached the form here for you guys to download and submit instantly. the form can be photocopied.

a person or company (especially if one's paid or commissioned to undertake it), should deliver results and states what he/she knows. not just stating the obvious and repeating 'standard common knowledge'.


the very first batch of hearing started on 8th January 2013.
hearing is classified by development or taman.
once the development or taman is called out, all owners go in together to state their case.
give justification and if sensible, prices may come down.

if nobody turn out deemed accepted!

i hope forummers learn from this quote rather than learning some unuseful run of the mill answers.


Attached File(s)
 reduction_in_assessment_dbkl_form.pdf ( 29.93k ) Number of downloads: 95

please read my post above.

Again you are contradicting yourself.
No doubt expenses are necessary to maintain a good upkeep of a city. But at what cost.
Any comparison done with other world class cities?
The issue is the citizens are not happy at how the expenses were spent. Ridiculous quantum wasted on unnecessary projects. White elephants such as rm1mil public toilets, unutilised sports complexes in the middle.of no where, shoddy walkways with huge spendings, etc.
Why are nasi lemak stores still allowed to operate with your dbkl staff happily purchasing it?
For god's sake, there is even a daily gerai just opposite dbkl building behind epf building. Sooooooo convenient for illegal trader to set up stalls and stands everywhere in our world class cities. You want proof, those are hard core proof.
Stop propagating lies that it is just.
Justice fairness is justice denied.
Until the day dbkl realise and admit that they are wrong and starts rectification of their faults is the day that dbkl starts to go on the right path.
Budget is a very simple thing. There is only inflow and outflow. If the inflow is capped, one should look at the outflow. So far all reports still concentrate on inflow only.
Walk the talk.
Tell us how many staff are there in dbkl over the population ratio. What was the amount paid for overtime last year?

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia...rty-tax-hearing

whatever condo management paid on behalf, they would need to charge back to respective owners.

you can try giving DBKL full address to do a search.
sometimes they only release the information to owners as per SPA.
if the name that appears on the bill matches your IC, you can get a copy.

key word: sometimes.