E-Paper
No new tax or project, Mohali MC proposes ₹27 lakh-surplus budget
As per the budget estimates, the Mohali civic body expects to earn ₹161.27 crore against an expenditure of ₹161 crore in 2022-23
With no fresh project or tax on the cards, the Mohali municipal corporation has proposed a ₹27 lakh-surplus budget for financial year 2022-23.
As per the budget estimates, the civic body expects to earn ₹161.27 crore against an expenditure of ₹161 crore. The budget will be approved in the House meeting scheduled next week, before being forwarded to the Punjab local bodies department for its nod.
Last year, in a major setback to MC, the department had imposed a ₹31-crore cut in its budget. Against the proposed ₹148 crore, the department had approved only ₹117 crore.
In the upcoming fiscal, at ₹25 crore, MC has earmarked a major chunk of funds on road repairs, apart from ₹19 crore on miscellaneous development works.
New tubewells and underground water reservoirs to augment the water supply, which is completely under corporation’s ambit, are expected to cost it ₹4 crore, while an equal amount of funds are reserved for purchase of various machinery and equipment.
With all parks of Sectors 76 to 80, which were earlier under the purview of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), also under MC now, the civic body has proposed a budget of ₹2 crore for their maintenance and development.
MC commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg said, “Due to the pandemic over the last two years, MC’s losses mounted to nearly ₹10 crore. Now, we will focus on increasing collection from various areas, including property tax, and building application, advertising, licence and tehbazaari fees.”
In 2021-22, MC’s property tax collection target was ₹28 crore, but it fell short by ₹8 crore. Similarly, advertisements brought in ₹8.72 crore against the expected ₹11 crore. The biggest blow came from the building application fee, where the income was pegged at ₹70 lakh, but MC only earned ₹35,000. From community halls, the earnings were ₹36 lakh against the estimated ₹60 lakh.
