SRP sale boosts Cebu City revenue collection
Cebu City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas presents the 2016 budget outline as well as updates on the revenue targets for this year’s budget during the City Council budget hearing. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
The year is not over yet, but Cebu City Hall has already exceeded its revenue collection target for this year.
City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas credited the excess P3.8 billion from the down payment of the sale of two lots in the South Road Properties (SRP) early this year.
“So far, we collected P12 billion. While we exceeded in our extra ordinary receipts, our total collection for 2015 has not yet exceeded the projected P10 billion. What increased our collection is the sale of the SRP because we only projected P4.5 billion,” Diwa said in yesterday’s start of the marathon budget hearings.
The city’s approved budget for this year is P13.4 billion. But Cuevas said the actual budget of the city is only P10 billion since the city didn’t push through with its allocation of P3.1 billion as domestic borrowings.
Cuevas told the City Council’s budget and finance committee that the amount was supposed to be used for the conversion of the SRP loan into peso, a plan which didn’t push through.
The city only included a P4.5 billion conservative estimate from the down payment of the sale of the SRP as a source of fund for the annual budget this year.
But the city received P8.3 billion as a down payment since the winning bidders gave a bid amount higher than the city’s floor price for the two lots.
In her collection report as of November 8 this year, Cuevas said the city only collected P734.5 million in real property taxes, P1.7 billion in business taxes and other receipts, P47.8 million in regulatory fees, P134 million receipts from economic enterprises and P8.8 billion in extra ordinary receipts.
This means a total of P12.77 billion was collected. Except for the extraordinary receipts, the city still hasn’t reached its targets for the other sources of revenues.
They projected a collection of P947 million for real property taxes, P1.9 billion in business tax and other receipts, P74 million in regulatory fees and P167 million from economic enterprises.
“Yes, (I am confident) that I can reach our targets this year,” Cuevas said in answer to a question by budget and finance committee chairperson Margot Osmeña who asked if the city can still collect the needed revenue.
With the reported excess in collection, Councilor Alvin Arcilla proposed that the city use P78 million from its coffers to fund the Productivity Enhancement Incentive (PEI) for City Hall employees.
But City Accountant Mark Salomon said the excess in collection came from the SRP lot sales proceeds and not from regular revenue sources.
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