Patna, Feb. 17: Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) is yet to prepare the draft of its annual budget for the 2011-12 fiscal.

Sources said according to tradition, the draft is prepared by February 15 every year and sent to the mayor and the deputy mayor for remarks before being tabled in the corporation board meeting.

It seems the entire process will get delayed this year. Last year, the corporation had completed the draft in time. However, it was only in July that the budget was approved by the corporation as the mayor was changed mid-term. Because of that the board meeting to approve the corporation budget also got delayed. This year, the process has been delayed from the very beginning, said a source in the accounts department of the civic body.

According to sources, the PMC board had approved the Rs 42-crore deficit budget for 2010-11 fiscal. According to the budget, each ward had received Rs 15 lakh for development work. A fund of Rs 25 lakh had been earmarked for cleaning the city drains ahead of the monsoon.

Sources also said the annual budget of the corporation is around Rs 45 crore. The civic body has been running on a deficit budget every year.

The budget is eagerly awaited this year, as it may bring some hike in taxes and charges of the civic body.

PMC sources said given the fact that the civic body was cash-strapped, it was expected that some taxes would be raised.

The administrative wing of the civic body has already made an argument for raising taxes. Officials have provided statistics that clearly indicate that the civic body was slated to raise its income in the next budget.

The administration had also argued that since the past several years there have been no significant rise in PMC taxes.

Sources also said the civic agency is all set to start some new projects this year. The officials were still working out the budgets for these.