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Kharar municipal council clears balanced budget plan for 2022-23
Both expenditure and income in the upcoming fiscal pegged at ₹115.4 crore, as per the budget presented by the Kharar municipal council president
With no new tax or development project on the anvil, the Kharar municipal council (MC) on Thursday approved a budget of ₹115.4 crore for fiscal 2022-23.
Presenting a balanced budget during a special House meeting on Thursday, council president Jaspreet Kaur Longia said MC’s income target and estimated expenditure were both pegged at ₹115.4 crore. Last year, a budget of ₹98 crore was passed by the council.
MC has proposed ₹18.8 crore as committed expenses and ₹91.53 crore as non-committed expenses.
The expenditure includes ₹91.53 crore on development works, making up 79% percent of the estimated budget, which is more than the instructions issued by the Punjab government.
At ₹90 crore, building application fee is the leading income source, followed by ₹12 crore from GST and VAT.
MC also expects to earn ₹4.5 crore from property tax, and ₹3 crore from water and sewerage bills. Excise duty will bring in ₹1.5 crore, electricity and octroi ₹1 crore, and advertisement tax ₹1.2 crore.
Rent and tehbazari, and licence fee are expected to help MC earn ₹10 lakh, apart from ₹2 crore from miscellaneous sources.
Among the expenditures, ₹20 crore have been set aside for a new sewerage system, ₹9.3 crore for road repair works, ₹7.6 crore for road gullies and drains, and ₹5 crore for the construction of the MC building and sports stadium.
Salaries are estimated to cost the MC ₹10 crore, while ₹3 crore will be spent on tree plantation in parks and ₹4 crore on solid waste management. The council already has ₹124.5 crore in its deposit account.
The House also took up discussion on awarding the advertisement contract worth ₹1.2 crore, which is ₹20 lakh higher than the last fiscal.
Councillors appealed to the MC president that payments to contractors should not be cleared without their consent, as they, and not the MC officials, were accountable to the residents.
AAP MLA from Kharar Anmol Gagan Mann and AAP MLA from Chamkaur Sahib Charanjit Singh were also present in the House meeting, as two villages of Chamkaur Sahib fall under Kharar.
During the Kharar municipal council elections in February last year, Congress won 10 of the 27 seats and the Shiromani Akali Dal eight. Independent candidates also grabbed eight seats, while AAP was restricted to one.
