The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) budget for the new financial year (2020-21) tabled on Monday projects a revenue of ₹878.71 crore and an expenditure of ₹871.43 crore, thus leaving it with a surplus of ₹7.36 crore.
The budget was tabled by K. Nirmala, Chairperson, Standing Committee on Taxation Finance and Appeals, in the presence of the Mayor Tasneem and others.
Property tax is the largest source of revenue for the corporation. It expects to mop up ₹157.70 crore through property tax alone as against ₹112.35 crore collected during the previous financial year.
Though the hike property tax rates for the financial year 2020-21 was supposed to kick in from April 1 this year, it is yet to be approved in the council and sources said that the councillors were against any hike given the COVID-19 situation and the general economic slide and shrinking income of the people
The hike is automatic under the Self-Assessment Scheme (SAS) and comes into effect once in 3 years and hence the upward revision was due, but there are objections to it, according to Deputy Mayor Sridhar.
The proposed online payment of property tax will also be rolled out and this is expected to shore up the collection rate significantly and result in automatic updating of the property records.
Water supply and drainage cess will fetch the MCC ₹86.25 crore. However, bulk of the MCC revenue is by way of grants from the Centre and the State government most of which goes for staff salary and wages. The MCC expects ₹69.39 crore from the State Finance Commission for the current year besides additional amount due from the previous financial years under various heads. The MCC also expects ₹25 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi Nagara Vikas Yojane in the current financial year.
The major development works proposed for the city include completion of the multi-level parking system which was taken up last year, development of D. Devaraja Urs Road which is a major commercial hub, construction of pink toilets for women, beautification of major circles in the city, and adoption of bio-mimicry, a regenerative innovation technology for sewage water treatment.
The legacy waste at the sewage farm which is an eyesore for Mysuru will be cleared under bio-remeditation process and the MCC has decided to convert the 20- acre area into a garden.