Panaji: The Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) is in the process of appointing an independent third-party agency to audit the GIS-based property tax assessment survey being conducted across the state to ensure the accuracy of municipal revenue mapping.The audit, estimated to cost around Rs 15 lakh, will involve a multi-tiered verification process. The agency will submit a comprehensive report detailing findings from sample field checks, assessing the quality of digitised records and recommending measures to help GSUDA formally close the survey, a GSUDA official said.The GIS-based property tax assessment survey was initiated in Mormugao, Margao, Mapusa and Panaji, along with other urban local bodies (ULBs) in North and South Goa. The exercise aims to create an updated, GIS-enabled database to improve property identification, taxation and municipal monitoring.Given the volume of data being generated, GSUDA wants an independent verification before accepting the survey as complete. “Because this localised data will form the foundation for future property tax assessments and broader municipal revenue administration, state authorities have determined that its reliability, consistency, and conformity with technical requirements must be independently vetted,” an official said.The selected agency will independently scrutinise the data, documents, GIS layers and survey records submitted by the primary executing agency. The audit will involve data validation, GIS database checks and sample-based field verification to cross-check property details.During the survey, the primary agency has been tasked with collecting household and property-level information, recording precise geographic coordinates, photographing properties and linking relevant ownership identifiers. The auditor will identify discrepancies, errors and omissions in the collected data.GSUDA officials said the push for a verified, GIS-mapped property database was a step towards modernising local governance. By identifying mapping errors and creating a transparent digital property ledger, the initiative aims to plug potential revenue leakages and improve revenue administration across Goa’s urban civic bodies.
