Sutiyoso proposes Rp 597.44 billion additional budget

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Governor Sutiyoso proposed an additional Rp 597.44 billion (US$70.3 million) for the 2003 city budget, causing the budget total to jump to Rp 11.65 trillion.

The proposal was conveyed during his speech on the budget revision to a City Council plenary session on Monday.

Sutiyoso said the reason for raising the budget was due to the higher target of regional income, from Rp 8.92 trillion to Rp 9.48 trillion, meaning there would be additional income of Rp 566.53 billion.

Regional income is expected to increase from Rp 4.66 trillion to Rp 4.92 trillion while central government redistributed income is expected to increase from Rp 4.26 trillion to Rp 4.55 trillion.

Sutiyoso said that a significant contribution for the increased budget would come from motorized vehicle tax of Rp 80 billion, tax on the change of vehicle ownership of Rp 115 billion and entertainment tax of Rp 5 billion.

From the central government, redistributed income is expected from property tax, income tax and taxes on change of property ownership.

On the expenditure side, administrative affairs spending will increase to some Rp 199.05 billion, while operation, maintenance of infrastructure and public facility spending will reach Rp 406.37 billion.

The greatest additional spending is set for infrastructure and public facilities, which will increase from Rp 2.12 trillion to Rp 2.36 trillion.

"The funds, will be used for funding the East Flood Canal construction, busway facility development and land clearance for overpasses," Sutiyoso said.

The second-largest increase in spending would be for education and health. The budget for the two items will increase by Rp 223.48 billion on the original budget of Rp 2.71 trillion.

Sutiyoso said that the higher budget in education and health sectors would be used to renovate school buildings, provide scholarships and deal with a possible upsurge in dengue fever during the rainy season.

Other significant spending increases will be on administrative affairs (Rp 167.6 billion on Rp 3.62 trillion), followed by legal and public order affairs (Rp 37.98 billion), natural resources and the environment (Rp 37.13 billion), social and cultural affairs (Rp 20.94 billion) and the economy (Rp 6.66 billion).