Rs2.55b surplus budget proposed for RMC in 2019-20

Budget proposal will be sent to RMC administrator for approval

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: The Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has estimated a budget of Rs2.55 billion, surplus budget for the upcoming fiscal year of 2019. The budget will now be presented to the RMC Administrator Saqib Zafar for approval.

The budget curiously includes funds for projects which had been proposed by former elected municipal representatives.

According to the budget documents, the RMC hopes to raise Rs1.25 billion from its own resources. This adds to the Rs1.30 billion which it will carry over from the outgoing fiscal year of 2018-19.

The funds were never spent, first because of a freeze imposed by the Election Commission of Pakistan for the July 25 general elections, and then by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led provincial government. The latter had frozen funds apart from blocking the local elected governments from initiating any development projects as it made a move to supplant them.

For the incoming fiscal year of 2019-20, the RMC has allocated Rs1.1 billion for non-developmental and administrative expenses.

For development projects, a sum of Rs1.32 billion has been allocated. The funds will be primarily used for building a parking plaza in the old municipal office on Jinnah Road.

A further Rs110 million have been allocated for ongoing schemes along with Rs800 million for new development schemes.

The development funds have been subject to a cut of Rs450 million, with the money diverted towards the pension fund.

Cantonment budget passed with cuts

The Military Land and Cantonments Regional Director have approved the budget summaries of both cantonment boards in Rawalpindi, albeit with a cut of Rs104 million.

The reduction includes Rs40 million in miscellaneous expenses of Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) and Rs64 million from income targets of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) after it was termed as impractical.

The RCB budget had estimated an income of Rs750 million through property tax revenues. However, this has been rationalized to Rs715 million.

Income from water charges income has been reduced from Rs250 million to Rs220 million. Property Rent income has been cut down from Rs100 million to RS90 million.

After the reductions, the budget is estimated to shrink to Rs3.671 billion, down from the original estimate of Rs3.735 billion.

Similarly, the CCB budget has been cut to Rs1.792 billion, down from Rs1.832 billion after Rs442 million for miscellaneous expenses were reduced to Rs402 million.

New property tax rates

The Rawalpindi district administration has decided to upwardly revise property registration tax rates which will come into effect from July 1.

Residents of posh areas and other areas where property dealing has witnessed a rise over the outgoing fiscal year will pay a higher percentage of taxes.

Moreover, residents will have to pay as much as six per cent in duties while purchasing and selling a property. Residents of the cantonment areas will only have to pay eight per cent in duties in property dealing.

Further, the citizens will have to pay five per cent as stamp duty, another percentage in corporation tax and district council fee.

Residents of cantonment areas will be charged five per cent stamp paper duty and three per cent of property transfer tax.

Similarly, they will have to pay three per cent of a property's price for irrevocable power of attorney and two per cent for general power of attorney across Punjab.

Tax filers can purchase property worth more than Rs4 million without paying the two per cent advance tax from the new fiscal year while non-filers would be allowed to purchase property worth up to Rs5 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2019.