Shillong: An audit report has found that most municipal boards in Meghalaya do not have enough resources of their own to pay their staff.

According to the Annual Technical Inspection Report on Urban Local Bodies for the year ended March 31, 2016, of six municipal boards, revenues earned by five were insufficient to meet salaries of their employees.

The report was placed in the recent winter session of the Meghalaya Assembly.

There are six municipal boards - one each in Shillong, Jowai, Tura, Williamnagar, Baghmara, and Resubelpara.

The report pointed out that under Section 68 of the Meghalaya Municipal Act, 1973, the boards can impose within their limits taxes on holdings (property tax) besides water tax, light tax, latrine tax, drainage tax, private markets tax, fees on carts, carriages and animals, registration fees for dogs and cattle and any other tax, toll and fee duly sanctioned by the government.

During 2011-16, the six municipal boards earned Rs 43.84 crore as "own revenue" by imposing taxes. During the same period, the boards incurred expenditure of Rs 53.06 crore on salaries alone, the report pointed out.

"The revenues earned by the municipal boards during the last five years (except Tura Municipal Board) were not sufficient even to meet the expenditure to fund the staff's salaries," the report stated.

It added that the shortfall in revenue required to meet expenditure on staff salary ranged from Rs 2.90 lakhto Rs 7.66 crore.

Apart from the Tura Municipal Board, all the other boards were dependent on grants-in-aid from the central/state governments to pay staff's salaries.

Further, the report said, out of the Rs 88.20 crore allotted to the municipal boards as per recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission, only Rs 32.23 crore was released, resulting in shortfall of Rs 55.97 crore.

The report also pointed out that property taxes are still not being levied by Resubelpara, Jowai and Williamnagar municipal boards.

Under the Shillong Municipal Board, as on March 31, 2016, there was an outstanding property tax of Rs 2.53 crore of which Rs 1.34 crore, involving 346 defaulters, was lying unrealised for more than five years and in some cases up to 40 years.

The audit report stated in Meghalaya there is neither an office of ombudsman nor a social audit arrangement for the municipal boards.