DSCC presents Tk 20.85b budget

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) unveiled on Thursday a Tk 20.85 billion budget for fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 without enhancing the existing holding tax for the city dwellers.

DSCC Mayor Muhammad Sayeed Khokon placed the first budget in his five-year term at the auditorium of the Nagar Bhaban putting the main focus on government-funded and foreign-aided projects, which account for nearly 70 per cent of the total estimation.

The size of the budget is 33.19 per cent higher than that of the previous fiscal (FY'15) and the total revenue collection has been fixed at Tk 6.32 billion, up by 6.0 per cent from the previous target of Tk 5.98 billion.

The DSCC mayor also announced the revised budget of Tk 6.43 billion for the last FY (2014-15) and the total development expenditure has been fixed at Tk 16.36 billion against just over Tk 11.65 billion in the previous fiscal.

While placing the budget, he said the holding tax had not been readjusted since 1989 for various reasons, although there is a provision for reassessing holding tax after every five years.  If it could be reassessed, it would be possible to earn revenue worth Tk 10 billion extra a year.

He said the revenue collection was gradually increasing because of various initiatives like conducting mobile courts and taking legal action against the business establishments which had not renewed trade licences for long.

"That's why we've decided to keep the holding tax (12 per cent) unchanged. Without enhancing tax burden on the city dwellers, we're trying to ensure transparency and dynamism in the tax collection procedure through proper application of the country's existing laws," he said.  

The mayor mentioned that the amount of due holding tax is Tk 1.01 billion and at the same time, the DSCC is yet to collect other dues worth Tk 1.01 billion from general taxpayers, government, semi-government and autonomous agencies.

He said the DSCC has to spend the major portion of its earnings to operate the highest local government body leaving a little amount to spend for development activities. "For that reason, the corporation has to depend on the government for carrying out development work and it has been also reflected in the budget projection. You (journalists) can call it project-depended budget," he said.              

The mayor also expressed his strong commitment for making the capital clean and liveable through adopting a proper waste management policy.

But his commitment is not reflected in the budget allocation as only Tk 16 million was allocated for the waste management sector.

Major sources of income will be Tk 2.85 billion from holding tax, cleaning and lighting, Tk 1.0 billion as bazar selami, Tk 300 million as market rents, Tk 600 million as trade licence fees, Tk 750 million from asset transfer, Tk 250 million from road excavation purpose, Tk 60 million for advertisements, Tk 50 million from bus-truck terminals, Tk 50 million for leasing out of cattle markets, Tk 75 million from electricity bills, among other sources.

According to the expenditure as projected in the budget, Tk 1.80 billion will be spent for salary and allowance purposes followed by Tk 640 million for power, energy, water and gas, Tk 318 million for supplying various things, Tk 280 million for repair and maintenance, Tk 125 million for mosquito control and Tk 16 million for waste management.

Talking about the due revenue payments, DSCC Chief Accounts Officer Mohammad Mahmud Hossain said they could not ensure cent per cent revenue collection because of some reasons that include absence of any elected mayor for a long time and legal complexities.

"We're hopeful of implementing the budget under the leadership of the dynamic mayor," he added.    

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