The Times of India                04.05.2013

LBT effect: Dull start to new fiscal for PMC

With the first collection from LBT expected only by May-end, the corporation is yet to see any income from the new tax. "Since there is no income from octroi and not even LBT in the month of April, the financial position of PMC has become weak. PMC has to manage things with nearly half the funds than what the administration earlier used to get every month. So, no new major proposals are going through and PMC is concentrating only on key projects. The situation is likely to remain the same in the month of May too, as the first income from LBT will come at the end of the month. The PMC will face a likely shortage of Rs 200 crore until it starts getting funds from LBT," said an official.

Officials said that there were some fixed expenditures that the administration has to deal with every month such as salaries, pension, maintenance and payments of ongoing key projects. So the civic body has to now reduce expenditure on projects that are not priority such as ward level works, so as to manage with the available funds.

The property tax department's income provided some relief in the month of April with many property owners paying their bills in advance to avail of the 10% tax rebate for payments made before May 31. This has helped deal with the funds crunch to some extent, said officials.

When contacted, Usha Kalamkar, head of PMC's accounts department admitted the fund-crunch. "Yes, currently there is loss of revenue, but it is a temporary phase. The situation is not worrisome and our financial position is strong. We are hoping for good revenue from LBT so we can also hope to recover the current loss in future," she said.