Kolhapur: A cut in the total expenses of development works is expected to take place in the draft budget of the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) to be presented by civic chief Abhijeet Chaudhari next week.Chaudhari is going to present the draft budget to the standing committee on February 22, very much ahead of the normal time of presentation the draft budget, owing to a possibility of the announcement of the Lok Sabha (LS) elections.The standing committee will therefore get less time to think over the budget as it has to ensure that the final budget is presented to the general body before the code of conduct for the forthcoming LS elections is put in place.Chaudhari, while talking to TOI, said that the expenses over the capital works, which includes the taking up of new infrastructural and developmental works, will be cut by around 20%. This will be done because of a dip in the collection of the taxes as well as the possibility of a reduction in the property tax for commercially rented properties.“There will be a cut in the expenses for the capital works. We had resorted to some cuts last year as well to balance out the budgetary expenditure and the revenue collection. The expenses over salaries and maintenance will continue to be made as per the requirement. However, there is now a smaller possibility that new projects can be taken up by the civic body. However, I am still thinking about floating a couple of new projects which will benefit the citizens. I will ensure that the citizens get the services with high efficiency,” said Chaudhari.It is likely that there will a be cut in the funds allotted to the corporators and other office bearers such as the mayor, deputy mayor, chairman's of various committees and the leaders of political parties, which may irk the corporators. In the budget for 2018-19, the civic administration had proposed funds of Rs5 lakh to each corporator, which was then increased to Rs8 lakh by the standing committee, based on the suggestions made by other corporators. The funds given to the corporators is part of the capital expenses to be made in a particular financial year.Also, there is a possibility that the share of KMC towards big projects will be managed through other resources. “We have several options with us, including seeking a loan to complete the projects, for which the KMC will have to share some part of the project cost. We will roll out separate budgetary estimates for the special projects that have been taken up,” said Chaudhari.

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