MCC presents surplus Budget; No new taxes

Chairperson of MCC's Finance, Taxation and Appeals Standing Committee R. Nagaraj presenting the Budget for the financial year 2023-2024 this morning.

Integrated Command and Control Centre to take strategic decisions on solid waste management

Mysore/Mysuru: The Mysuru City Corporation‘s Budget for the year 2023-2024 presented this morning had nothing new to offer to the residents of Mysuru though the civic body has allocated funds for regular development projects. Some of the projects that were proposed in the 2022-2023 Budget and funds were allocated have been taken up afresh.

The good news, however, is that the Corporation has decided not to impose any new taxes on the people. The second good news is that the MCC has presented a surplus Budget of 9.05 crore. Another important aspect of the Budget is that it has committed to complete the entire process of digitising online Property Tax payment. This will apply to all the properties coming under the MCC.

While the Opposition criticised the Budget for not mentioning anything about new schemes which will bring revenue to the civic body, many ruling party Councillors termed the Budget as excellent.

The Budget was presented by Finance, Taxation and Appeals Standing Committee Chairperson R. Nagaraj in the presence of Mayor Shivakumar, Deputy Mayor Dr. G. Roopa and MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy.

The 2023-2024 Budget has an opening balance of Rs. 366.8747 crore with receipts amounting to Rs. 691.1417 crore, totalling Rs. 1,05,801.64 crore with expenditure amounting to Rs. 1,04,8.965 crore. The surplus amount is Rs. 9.0514 crore.

Some of the Corporators said that the Budget lacked clarity and focus on augmenting MCC revenue and was dependent heavily on the grants by the State Finance Commissions and also the grants by the  MLAs and MP.

Corporators said that the city had many low-lying areas which submerged during monsoon and the Budget did not make any mention of providing relief to people living in such areas.

Some of the new projects that have been listed for development are remodelling and redesigning of circles such as Nijalingappa Circle, Ashoka Circle and Agrahara Circle in Krishnaraja Constituency, Kumbarakoppal Circle, Hunsur Road Valmiki Circle and Hebbal Circle in Chamaraja Constituency, Millennium Circle and Fountain Circle in Narasimharaja Constituency and Sharadadevinagar Circle in Chamundeshwari Constituency.

An Integrated Command and Control Centre will be set up to enable the MCC to take strategic decisions in the areas of transport, surveillance, solid waste management and many other city operations based on the analysis of real-time data. The key project components include civil infrastructure, smart solutions, sensors/cameras and other devices and IT infrastructure.

A ‘tree park’ will be constructed at the park located between the Double Road at Vijayanagar Second Stage and two parks each will be constructed at all the four Assembly Constituencies within the MCC jurisdiction. 

A modern swimming pool with all amenities will be constructed at Subbarayanakere near the Freedom Fighters Park and a food street will be developed on Valmiki Road and Lalitha Mahal Road.

This post was published on June 5, 2023 7:45 pm