VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation will present its annual Budget on Saturday. The council meeting is expected to be a stormy session as opposition parties have found many lacunae in the draft Budget document that has been circulated among members. The VMC has prepared the Budget with Rs 1,327 crore for the year 2017-18. The civic body did not propose any hike in property tax, however, water tax may be increased by 7 per cent. The precedent, which was set during the special officer rule before 2014 to increase tax by 7 per cent, was followed this year also. Opposition parties are flaying this decision as water tax is now equivalent to property tax.
YSRC floor leader in the VMC, B. Punyaseela said though officials are claiming that there is no increase in the tax slabs, they are doing it hiding behind the GO issued during the special officer rule. She said the Budget document was messy and there were no detailed accounts other than abstract figures. She also found fault with the civic body for not mentioning the detailed expenditure on welfare measures.
The Tax Payer’s Association (TPA) also found fault with many heads of account. TPA general secretary M.V. Anjaneyulu said the VMC has shown the expenditure account without fund allocation. He pointed out that road grants and Budameru development were not mentioned in the previous budget, but the officials have shown expenditure account.
Mr Anjaneyulu also found fault with increased expenditure under electricity, corporators’ study tours, containing stray animals and at the same time, less allocations for public health, sports stadiums maintenance and dumping yard maintenance. The opposition parties slammed the drop in revenues under various heads without mentioning any details.
