Elections in the Capital — the civic body elections in 2012, the Assembly in 2013 and the Lok Sabha in 2014 — have prevented the three municipal corporations here from taking the politically-tough decision to hike taxes.
On Tuesday too, when South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) Commissioner Manish Gupta presented his budget proposal for 2015-2016, the BJP leadership was quick to reject the hikes. A BJP leader admitted that the proposals were rejected because of the impending Assembly elections in the Capital. The elections are likely to be announced in December.
Mr. Gupta proposed a 45 per cent increase in the base unit area value for property tax assessment, a new ‘professional tax’ and a hike in the one-time parking charges for new vehicles. Standing Committee Chairperson Subhash Arya said the three proposals will not be passed by the BJP-led House.
“We reject all the hikes proposed by the Commissioner. We don’t want any additional burden on the people,” said Mr. Arya.
Similar hikes were proposed last year too, but the deliberative wing had turned them down. Parking charges were hiked recently, after years of the same proposal being rejected by the Councillors. According to the officials, it was only made possible after intervention from the Centre.
The SDMC is in the best financial position among the three municipal corporations. For financial year 2013-2014, the corporation had a surplus of Rs.200 crore. This financial year, revenue is expected to be Rs.3,630.97 crore and expenditure Rs.3,633.28 crore. In the financial year 2015-2016, the Commissioner has proposed an expenditure of Rs.3,770.58 crore against total revenues of Rs.3,770.92 crore.
Mr. Gupta said rejection of the proposal for hikes will not really hurt the corporation. “The SDMC is not in dire straits financially. We will be fine.”
However, officials said the elections have kept major changes in the taxation policy at bay for years. “Our revenue targets will be affected without the hikes. We will have to adjust the targets,” he added.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Farhad Suri said the budget did not include any new projects. The budget will now be discussed and only cleared after approval from the House.
