Chandigarh: Property tax powered the municipal corporation’s finances in the first quarter of the current financial year, helping the civic body generate Rs 134.47 crore from its own sources between April and June. With a Rs 300-crore grant-in-aid from the UT administration, its total receipts during the period stood at Rs 434.47 crore.Property tax was the MC’s biggest revenue source, yielding Rs 64.8 crore, followed by water charges at Rs 37.83 crore. Garbage collection charges brought in Rs 7.91 crore, while the civic body earned Rs 3.88 crore through tax on electricity bills and Rs 3.77 crore from parking fees.Sources attributed the high property tax collection to the rebate offered to residential and commercial taxpayers during April and May. As a substantial portion of the annual tax was collected during the rebate window, receipts from the property tax branch are expected to be lower in the coming months.Against the total receipts of Rs 434.47 crore, the MC spent Rs 254.45 crore during the quarter. Of this, Rs 223.30 crore went towards revenue expenditure, including salaries, wages, pensions, water and power charges and other committed liabilities. Capital expenditure on development works stood at Rs 31.15 crore.Salaries and wages alone accounted for Rs 141.8 crore of the revenue expenditure. An MC official said manpower remained a major expense because of the number of employees required to deliver field services across departments.Of the capital expenditure, the largest share of Rs 19.45 crore was spent on improving roads and parking facilities. The MC also spent Rs 2.12 crore on solid waste management, Rs 1.84 crore on stormwater drainage, Rs 1.42 crore on landscaping and Rs 1.27 crore on gaushala development.
