The total size of the budget has been increased by over Rs 4 crore. While the administrative wing led by Municipal Commissioner Aarti Kanwar had proposed a budget of over Rs 405 crore, the political wing by introducing 14 additional projects in the capital budget has increased it to Rs 409 crore.

To reduce the tax burden by over Rs 13 crore, the house tax target has been increased and measures to cut down several other administrative expenditures have been forwarded.

“The decision to cut down on tax burden has been specifically made possible by increasing house tax target,” said Mayor Dhansukh Bhandari.

He added: “We have tried to increase the tax collection bar and decrease the tax burden on residents." From the proposed Rs 80 crore tax collection target for the next financial year, the new target has been set at over Rs 88.4 crore. “Against the proposed double-hike in water, fire and drainage taxes, only marginal hike has been approved,” said standing committee chairman Dr Jaiman Upadhyay.

Instead of a proposed hike of Rs 50 per month in the tax slab for domestic water connection, the standing committee has approved a hike of Rs 20. The residents, who so far have been paying Rs 50 per month, would from next financial year pay Rs 70 per month.

For commercial connections, the tax has been hiked from Rs 100 to Rs 140, against the proposed Rs 200. Similarly, the fire tax would go up by 0.5 per cent, instead of the proposed 1 per cent, and drainage tax would cost 1 per cent more than the current slab, instead of the suggested 2 per cent.

The standing committee has accepted the streetlight slab as suggested by Kanwar, which is 1 per cent of the total house tax.

Apart from the proposed Rs 4 crore projects in water works, Rs 3 crore in drainage, Rs 2 crore in traffic and road management, Rs 8 crore in solid waste management, over Rs 5 crore in urban poor housing scheme, the standing committee presented 14 new projects to the tune of Rs 2 crore.

For most of the development projects in water, drainage, traffic, road and solid waste management, 70 per cent grant would be jointly provided by the Central and the State Governments under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.