MBSJ freezes assessment rates despite projected budget deficit

By the Editorial Team · Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Subang Jaya City Council will keep assessment rates unchanged for 2027 despite facing a RM21 million deficit by intensifying enforcement and hiring external agents to recover RM65 million in outstanding taxes. This approach aims to avoid burdening residents financially while improving revenue collection and reducing spending waste.

Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ) has announced it will maintain current assessment rates for 2027 despite anticipating a budget deficit of RM21 million. The council plans to offset the shortfall by intensifying enforcement efforts and recovering outstanding tax arrears from property owners.

During a town hall session held Tuesday at the USJ7 multipurpose hall in Subang Jaya, Selangor, MBSJ Treasury director Mohd Fadzil Mahat emphasized the council’s commitment to avoiding increased financial burdens on ratepayers. He outlined strategies to strengthen revenue collection without raising assessment rates, including enhanced enforcement, appointing external agents to pursue overdue payments, and conducting regular audits to curb unnecessary expenditure.

“We want to improve our revenue, but we will not increase assessment rates, as that will only burden the public,” Mohd Fadzil said. “Instead, we will look at alternatives, like stepping up enforcement and engaging external agents to collect assessment arrears. At the same time, there will be consistent audits on all our spending to reduce wastage.”

The session drew more than 250 participants, including representatives from residents’ associations and community leaders. Subang Jaya mayor Datuk Rumaizi Baharin indicated that feedback gathered would be incorporated into the revised budget proposal, which will be submitted to the Selangor state government in November.

For the 2027 fiscal year, MBSJ projects total revenue of RM405 million against projected expenditures of RM426 million, resulting in the expected deficit of RM21 million. Revenue breakdown anticipates RM274 million from assessment taxes, RM119 million from non-tax sources such as rentals, services, and development plan fees, and approximately RM11.7 million in federal and state government allocations. Expenditures are estimated at RM287.5 million for operational management and RM139 million for developmental projects.

Datuk Rumaizi also highlighted that the council is currently owed RM65 million in overdue assessment payments. To address this, Mohd Fadzil stated that MBSJ will adopt a more aggressive recovery stance, including hiring third-party debt collection agents due to the volume of arrears and considering legal actions against delinquent property owners.

“As a government agency, we have an obligation to collect revenue and use those funds to sustain our services,” he said.

Subang Jaya assemblyman Michelle Ng and deputy mayor Mohd Zulkurnain Che Ali were also present at the town hall meeting.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.