RAWALPINDI: The Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) on Wednesday approved its Rs1.55 billion budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year without introducing any new taxes on residents.

Elected members led by Vice President Raja Irfan Imtiaz approved the budget proposals in a board meeting with station commander Brig Hassan Raza in the chair.

The CCB originated in 2003, after separating from the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) after the government bifurcated the cantonment areas for administrative purposes.

The civic body estimated the total outlay at Rs1.55 billion. Total receipts are expected to stand at Rs934.43 million, and the opening balance at Rs200 million. However, Rs15.5 million will be gotten from government grants, and a major chunk of the budget will go for salaries and allowances of the staff.

A sum of Rs437.48 million has been allocated to the salaries and allowances of CCB employees, Rs455 million to contingencies, and Rs293.28 million to miscellaneous expenditures. Rs135 million have been allocated to maintenance and repair work.

According to the budget plan, the civic agency will generate Rs596 million from taxes, including property tax on commercial and residential properties and fees on building plans and other services.

In addition, Rs1.5 million will be earned from fines imposed on shops and commercialisation, including Rs70 million from hoarding charges and Rs238 million from development charges on the transfer of properties.

Mr Imtiaz told Dawn that the CCB would spend Rs500 million on uplift schemes, including water supply and the construction of roads, streets and drains in the area. “The major chunk of development funds will be spent on water supply schemes as the area has been facing a water shortage for the last several years, especially in the summer,” he said.

He said schools will be upgraded to high schools in the next fiscal year, to accommodate more students.

He said the sanitation department will be upgraded, and two dumpers and a machine to clean drains will be purchased next month.

He added that the Panorama Centre shops will be auctioned, and two commercial plazas in the Chaklala Scheme-III commercial market will be leased at the market rate, to improve the board’s financial position.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2016