A budget that precariously hinges on State’s largesse

Is this budget another number juggler? A whopping 47 per cent (Rs. 4,235.8 crore) of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) budget comes from the Chief Minister’s special grant, which leaves its success hanging at the mercy of the State government.

The budget’s success also depends on the rate of collection of property tax, which constitutes 34.4 per cent of the total anticipated revenue. Interestingly, the budget shows a surplus of Rs. 2.02 crore.

“Experience has taught us that not often does the promised grant from the State government come in full. This puts a big question mark over the actuals of this budget,” said Srikanth Vishwanathan, co-ordinator, advocacy and reforms, Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy.

Data collated by Janaagraha shows that the budget versus actuals of State government grants over the years is as low as 35–50 per cent. But in 2015-16, which saw a spell of administrator’s rule, the government did fulfil its commitment.

Track record

With the revised property tax rates, BBMP estimates Rs. 3,100 crore revenue from the source. However, the civic body’s record in property tax collection has not been great over the years.

For example, the actual collection in 2013-14 was just 23 per cent of the budget estimate, data collated by Janaagraha shows. However, the situation has improved to a great extent with 71 per cent of the estimate collected in 2015-16 — BBMP’s best performance during the last decade.

An allocation of Rs. 1,268.03 crore (14 per cent of the outlay) has been made for salary, pension, administration and repayment of loans.

There is no provision for settling pending bills, running up to an estimated Rs. 1,540 crore since March 2014. T. Venkatesh, secretary, BBMP Working Contractors’ Association, expressed disappointment at this as the authorities had promised to settle all pending bills in this budget. “This will further aggravate the financial situation, with the bills pending for 24 months likely to remain so,” he said.

However, Mayor B.N. Manjunath Reddy said the spillover works this year, in which pending bills need to be settled, amounted to over Rs. 2,000 crore.