The Mohali municipal corporation approved a budget of ₹161.27 crore for financial year 2022-23 at its house meeting on Monday.
During the meeting, held under the chairmanship of city mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu, councillors demanded that details of the expenditure in 2021-22 be made public.
As per the budget estimates, the civic body expects to earn ₹161.27 crore from various sources, while the spending would be ₹161 crore. Now, the budget will be sent to the Punjab local bodies department for final approval.
Last year, in a major disappointment for MC, the department had slashed its budget by ₹31 crore. Against the proposed ₹148 crore, it had approved only ₹117 crore.
With no new projects or taxes planned in 2022-23, the civic body has proposed an only ₹27-lakh surplus budget and expects it to be cleared.
At ₹25 crore, among its major spending in the upcoming fiscal will be on road repairs, apart from ₹19 crore on miscellaneous development works.
MC will also spend ₹4 crore on augmenting the water supply, which is completely under its ambit, through new tubewells and underground water reservoirs. An equal amount is reserved for purchase of various machinery and equipment as well.
{{/usCountry}}MC will also spend ₹4 crore on augmenting the water supply, which is completely under its ambit, through new tubewells and underground water reservoirs. An equal amount is reserved for purchase of various machinery and equipment as well.
{{/usCountry}}As all parks of Sectors 76 to 80, which were earlier under the purview of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), are also under MC now, it has proposed a budget of ₹2 crore for their maintenance and development.
MC commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg said, “In the upcoming financial year, we will be focusing on income generation from various heads, including, property tax, and building application, advertising, licence and tehbazaari fees.”
In 2021-22, MC was targeting a collection of ₹28 crore through property tax, but it fell short by ₹8 crore. Advertisements also brought in ₹8.72 crore, lower than the expected ₹11 crore.
The corporation’s coffers were hit hardest from the shortfall in building application fee, where the income was pegged at ₹70 lakh, but only ₹35,000 were earned. The earnings from community halls were ₹36 lakh against the estimated ₹60 lakh.
City mayor congratulates new AAP govt
Congratulating the new AAP-led government in Punjab, city mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu assured to fully cooperate with the new government to work for the development of Mohali.
During the House meeting, following issues raised by 11 councillors from the Azad group, which is headed by AAP MLA Kulwant Singh, the mayor assured that development will be carried out in all wards without any discrimination.