An aerial view of Cebu City. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
CEBU CITY, Philippines — While waiting for the new ordinance that would provide for the revision of the Omnibus Tax Code in Cebu City, the Local Finance Committee (LFC) is gearing towards implementing improved revenue measures for city hall.
Cebu City Treasurer Mare Vae Reyes told CDN Digital that they would strengthen the collection efficiency of both the City Assessor’s Office and the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO).
“Naa mi mga strategies nga gipangbuhat to intensify the collection without relying sa ordinance nga gi-veto pa. So, we are hoping nga despite the veto, makuha lang gihapon nato ang atoang target collection,” she said.
Data from the City Budget Office showed that the CTO has a total target collection of about P46.9 Billion.
Of that, P44.5 billion will come from tax revenues, while P2.4 billion will come from non-tax revenues.
The city government is pushing for tax revisions to fund the city’s budget of P50 billion this year.
However, Mayor Michael Rama vetoed the council-approved ordinance for tax code revision saying the ordinance does not reflect the current Fair Market Value given by the City Assessor’s Office.
Meanwhile, aside from internal sources, other identified sources of funds for the city hall are National Tax Allocation (NTA) of about P2.7 billion, a share from Ecozone of P3 million, and subsidies from the general fund proper of P1.4 billion.
“Based on the proposal, dako jud to siya ang amoa untang target nga adto makuha ang among revneues for this year, but we are not relying solely ato. We have other measures nga among ma cope up, nga makuha namo ang target despite the fact nga i-reintroduce pa to siya (tax revision ordinance) and daghang nagtabang nga offices para mahimo nato siya,” she said.
She said that one of the strategies to improve their tax collection efficiency is the addition of manpower at the CTO and city assessors.
“Naa tay gihimo nga process nga ang ubang employees sa ubang departments atong gipa assign sa treasurer’s office for the intensified collection nga atong himoon,” she said.
She also said that the CTO and the Assessor’s Office will work together in improving the tax mapping of the city for the necessary corrections in tax declarations of real properties here in the city. /rcg
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