The Hindu 13.02.2013
Rs. 2.45 crore surplus budget for HDMC
Proposal to bring all properties under tax net, no new taxes.
The Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation budget for 2013-14 expects revenue of Rs. 310.02 crore, including receipts in the extraordinary accounts, against an expenditure of Rs. 307.57 crore, leaving it with a surplus of Rs. 2.45 crore.
The budget was tabled in the HDMC council on Tuesday by Chairman of the Standing Committee on Tax Fixation, Finance and Appeals Shivu Hiremath, following a delay due to protests by the Opposition Congress.
Keeping an eye on the forthcoming elections to urban local bodies, the budget has not proposed new taxes. It mentions measures to bring all properties under the tax net as well as collect pending water dues.
The revenue receipts and the capital receipts added to the opening balance come to Rs. 265.62 crore and the revenue and capital payments come to Rs. 265.61 crore.
Mr. Hiremath said that while revenue receipts stood at Rs. 245.1 crore, revenue expenditure amounted to Rs. 174.45 crore.
He said that while capital receipts were expected to be around Rs. 2.5 crore, capital expenditure was around Rs. 9.11 crore. He said that the Rs. 88.66-crore deficit in the capital account would be adjusted against the opening balance of Rs. 18.01 crore and the surplus of Rs. 70.65 crore in the revenue account.
“As a result, without imposing any fresh tax, we have been able to manage the deficit. We are expecting receipts of Rs. 4.44 crore in the extraordinary accounts and an expenditure of Rs. 4.19 crore. That leaves us with a Rs. 2.45-crore surplus budget,” he said.
Taxes
As per the budget the corporation is expecting revenue of Rs. 39.75 crore from property tax, Rs. 1.38 crore from advertisement tax, Rs. 19.54 crore from town planning programmes, Rs. 1.15 crore from road cutting charges, Rs. 4.18 crore from rent and stallage from HDMC commercial complexes.
The corporation is also expecting Rs. 16. 45 crore from the State Finance Commission grant and Rs. 13.75 crore from the 13th Finance Commission grant.
Expenditure
The corporation will be spending the largest chunk, Rs. 78.15 crore, on governance and human resources. A sum of Rs. 22.62 crore has been set aside for road development and repair.
Reading out the budget speech, Mr. Hiremath said that the corporation planned to bring all properties in the twin cities under the tax net. “Strict measures will also be taken to collect all the tax dues in 2013-14,” he said.
Mr. Hiremath said that the corporation would implement the town planning programme strictly by making building permission compulsory and as well as making some modifications in the building bylaws.
Considering the lack of public toilets in the twin cities, especially in market areas, the corporation had set aside Rs. 1 crore for construction of public toilets, he said.
He said that for the golden jubilee celebrations of the HDMC, Rs. 25 lakh had been set aside and Rs. 55 lakh had been earmarked for various sports and cultural programmes throughout the year. For the annual Dharwad Utsav, the corporation had set aside Rs. 25 lakh, he said.
Arogya Raksha scheme
Mr. Hiremath said that Rs. 2 crore had been set aside for the Arogya Raksha scheme, under which pourakarmikas(permanent employees) were eligible to get free medical care in empanelled hospitals. A sum of Rs. 1.2crore had been earmarked for providing housing loans to 20 permanent employees of the municipal corporation during 2013-14.
Development of villages
He said that Rs. 1 crore had been set aside for development of villages in the jurisdiction of the corporation and Rs. 1.5 crore had been earmarked for providing basic amenities in HDMC commercial complexes.
Mr. Hiremath said that the corporation had set aside Rs. 25.8crores for solid waste management in the twin cities where nearly 400 tonnes of solid waste was generated every day.
