A major feature of this budget will be the introduction of a 35 per cent hike in user charges, a proposal that has been rejected by the elected body for the past two years. Augmentation of income from user charges has been one of the conditions of funding from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM). The Corporation has got the last date of implementation of this proposal till March 31, 2008, and with the body's financial health in a precarious position, the elected wing will have no alternative but to accept the proposal for the sake of the city's development.

It is expected that in the absence of any incremental growth in revenue from octroi, charges on hoardings, public advertisements and the like will see an increase. According to municipal commissioner I P Gautam, the buoyancy will now have to be maintained in the form of price rise and consequent hike in taxes, increase in consumption of goods and services and increase in the city limits, which now stand at 450 sq km after expansion of limits. Besides, filling the gap in income through non tax revenue, the AMC will also have to resort to cutting down expenditure through freeze on fresh recruitments and non filling of posts falling vacant owing to retirement of staff in the routine, Gautam added.