The Times of India 04.05.2013
LBT effect: Dull start to new fiscal for PMC
from octroi to local body tax in the first month of the new fiscal has
cost the civic body dear. With zero collections from local body tax so
far, the municipal corporation is staring at a possible revenue crunch
until the time the revenue from the new tax starts flowing into its
coffers.
the Pune Municipal Corportation’s total revenue, with the monthly
collection from this tax pegged at Rs 100 crore. The PMC had earned over
Rs 1,300 crore from octroi in the last fiscal. The other two critical
income sources are property tax and building permission, each
contributing Rs 50 crore to the civic body.
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.
