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Mumbaikars will not have to pay additional taxes during 2015-16. The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a Rs 33,514-crore budget did not introduce any new proposals.
The Budget Estimate (BE) was 27 per cent more than the Revised Estimate (RE) of Rs 26,337 crore in 2014-15.
However, Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte told the standing committee the civic body would be compelled to levy new taxes in future, such as property taxes on 1.5 million slums dwellers, transport cess, conservancy cess and fire cess after it lost power to levy octroi duty, once the Centre introduced a Goods and Services Tax from April 2016. New taxes will be necessary to augment municipal revenue.
In the BE for FY16, of the estimated revenue income of Rs 19,256 crore, revenue from octroi at Rs 7,900 crore was 41 per cent.
“The abolition of octroi, which has remained the major source of revenue and the crucial factor in budgetary planning for several years, will adversely impact our revenues. (And) the 7th pay commission (award) that comes into effect the same year will increase the salary and pension expenditure. In these circumstances, fiscal restructuring of the civic body has become necessary,’’ Kunte said.
He suggested BMC request the Maharashtra government that the Employment Guarantee Scheme cess collected by the civic body be retained. Also, periodically raising various fees and rents would be needed.
The Budget Estimate (BE) was 27 per cent more than the Revised Estimate (RE) of Rs 26,337 crore in 2014-15.
However, Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte told the standing committee the civic body would be compelled to levy new taxes in future, such as property taxes on 1.5 million slums dwellers, transport cess, conservancy cess and fire cess after it lost power to levy octroi duty, once the Centre introduced a Goods and Services Tax from April 2016. New taxes will be necessary to augment municipal revenue.
In the BE for FY16, of the estimated revenue income of Rs 19,256 crore, revenue from octroi at Rs 7,900 crore was 41 per cent.
“The abolition of octroi, which has remained the major source of revenue and the crucial factor in budgetary planning for several years, will adversely impact our revenues. (And) the 7th pay commission (award) that comes into effect the same year will increase the salary and pension expenditure. In these circumstances, fiscal restructuring of the civic body has become necessary,’’ Kunte said.
He suggested BMC request the Maharashtra government that the Employment Guarantee Scheme cess collected by the civic body be retained. Also, periodically raising various fees and rents would be needed.
BMC will also persuade the state government to hand over to it the professional tax collected in Mumbai. Kunte said the civic body will also initiate imposition of penalties on account of unauthorised construction in 2015-16.
The estimated capital expenditure for 2015-16 is Rs 9,282 crore. BMC is expected to raise a loan of Rs 2,000 crore to meet this.
For extending various civic services to the urban poor and improving the standard of these, Rs 8,471 crore is proposed. A three-year master plan for roads has been prepared abd about Rs 1,000 crore spent in 2014-15. The proposed allocation is Rs 3,200 crore against Rs 2,309 crore in 2014-15 for improvement of roads in asphalt and cement concrete. Another Rs 1,121 crore is proposed for cement concrete roads in Greater Mumbai.
For starting a Rs 8,500-crore coastal road connecting south and north Mumbai, Rs 200 crore will be mobilised from the fungible Floor Space Index fund.
Electronic tendering has been mandated for any expense above Rs 3 lakh. BMC has proposed a detailed project report for ‘smart city’ works and to implement a cloud-based technology for a data centre. The civic body plans a cloud-based Document Management System, a repository for 800 million images and accessible to 20,000 users.
