Council chides Sutiyoso over budget shortfalls
JAKARTA (JP): While praising the administration for exceeding its budgetary targets, city councillors took Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso to task on Friday over the shortfalls in some of the revenues during the 1999/2000 fiscal year.
The administration said total revenues reached Rp 1.69 trillion (US$198 million) during the year ending March 31, or 25.6 percent higher than the Rp 1.35 trillion target.
But at a council's plenary session to review the administration's budget performance, most factions, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the National Mandate Party (PAN), Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP), questioned the shortfalls in vehicle tax, fuel tax, parking fees and dividends from city-owned companies.
They pointed out that the Rp 913.5 billion total revenue from vehicle tax was Rp 600 billion short of the potential income figure they had obtained from the Jakarta Police Headquarters, which collects and administers vehicle taxes.
The Vehicle Document Processing Department at the police headquarters contributed an average of Rp 6 billion each working day to the administration's coffers, giving a total annual potential of more than Rp 1.5 trillion, they said.
Tjuk Sudono of PAN urged city officials to submit details on the number of taxable vehicles in Jakarta.
Councillors said the Rp 7.3 billion income from vehicle fuel tax fell far short of the targeted Rp 57.7 billion, raising questions about the central government's policy to phase out the fuel subsidy.
The administration has blamed the shortfall on the central government for not paying Jakarta's full entitlement. The law states that regional administrations are automatically entitled to a 10 percent tax on local fuel sales.
Tjuk said the administration could have secured Rp 36 billion in net income from parking fees, six times the Rp 5.6 million collected in the 1999/2000 fiscal year, with improved and more professional management.
He said if 30 percent of the two million vehicles in Jakarta paid Rp 500 for parking facilities every day, the city would have collected a gross revenue of Rp 90 billion. Deducting 60 percent for operational expenses, the administration would still be left with Rp 36 billion.
Jannes Pardosi of the PDI Perjuangan faction said the Rp 32 billion contribution from city-owned companies was too small.
"The companies failed to conduct good planning, implementation and monitoring," he said, adding that they had failed to live up to the term Jaya, used by the companies for their names.
Jaya, which is short for Jakarta Raya (Greater Jakarta), also means prosperous in Bahasa Indonesia.
Sutiyoso is scheduled to give his response on June 26. (06)