GULBARGA: Chairman of the Standing Committee on Finance and Taxation, Gulbarga City Corporation, Gurunath Billad on Tuesday presented a Rs. 8.66-crore surplus budget for 2006-07 with an anticipated receipt of Rs. 57.75 crore and expenditure of Rs. 49.08 crore.

The budget, which was approved without any discussion, has revised taxes on many items and brought several items under the tax net to increase revenue.

The water tariff has been increased from Rs. 45 for a tap a month to Rs. 60. For new connections, one year's charges will be collected as deposit. With regard to commercial connections, the tariff increase ranges from Rs. 180 to Rs. 200 and from Rs. 540 to Rs. 600 a month.

Maintenance fees

For the first time, the corporation has brought the underground drainage system under the tax net. Residential buildings will be charged Rs. 120 as UGD maintenance fee while commercial-cum-residential building with at least one shop will be charged Rs. 240. For commercial buildings, including hotels, lodges, commercial complexes, hospitals, and function halls, Rs. 500 will be collected every year.

The budget has reduced the penal fees for regularisation of unauthorised tap connections from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 3,000.

It has also been proposed in the budget to collect a development charge of Rs. 70 for a square metre of land in Gulbarga Development Authority approved layouts and Rs. 100 in layouts approved by other agencies, including gram panchayats. The fee for the registration of births and deaths has also been increased from Rs. 6 to Rs. 10 for a certificate. A new tax of Rs. 50 will be collected to issue no-objection certificates and completion certificates. Similarly, the mutation fee for residential and non-residential buildings has been increased from Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 and Rs. 200 to Rs. 300, respectively.

A new cess on motor vehicles has also been proposed. While two-wheelers will attract a cess of Rs. 50, three-wheelers and four-wheelers will be charged Rs. 100 and Rs. 300, respectively. For passenger and goods carriages, Rs. 400 and Rs. 500, respectively, will be collected as motor vehicle cess. A new tax on solid waste management will be collected from this year. While Rs. 10 a month will be collected as tax from residential buildings, commercial buildings will be charged Rs. 50 a month and industries, hotels, function halls and nursing homes will be charged Rs. 300.

The taxes on buildings and lands are expected to generate Rs. 7 crore in comparison to Rs. 3 crore generated last year. The corporation also expects a revenue of Rs. 3.5 crore through water charges and Rs. 2 crore by way of regularising unauthorised water connections.

Expenditure

A sum of Rs. 1 crore has been set aside for the purchase of lamps and other material and for maintenance of streetlights while Rs. 2 crore has been earmarked for roadwork in the city and Rs. 20 lakh for maintenance of roads and footpaths.

The corporation hopes to get Rs. 6 crore from the Government for taking development works. Of this, Rs. 1.5 crore will be spent on repairing roads, Rs. 1.25 crore on concreting drains, Rs. 30 lakh on constructing toilets and Rs. 50 lakh on repairing and constructing buildings.

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