Capitol posts P250M hike in 2013 income

The Cebu provincial government hit its income target for 2013 after posting a revenue of P2.21 billion.

Records from the provincial treasurer’s office said the amount surpassed the Capitol’s P1.96 billion collection in 2012 by P250 million.

Provincial Treasurer Emmanuel Guial attributed the increase to the province’s more efficient tax collection.

“We were able to reach our target because of the reinforcement of our tax collection and revenue from our economic enterprises,” Guial told Cebu Daily News yesterday.

The Capitol’s tax collection for 2013 rose to P113 million, higher by P7 million from the P106 million collected in 2012.

A big chunk of the amount was from real property taxes (P46 million) and tax on sand and gravel quarrying (P24 million).

Stall rentals from the province-owned Larsian stalls in Fuente Osmeña increased by around P5 million from barely P1 million in 2012 to P6.1 million in the past year.

District and provincial hospitals earned around P145 million for 2013 while it got only P92 million in 2012.

However, the Cebu South Bus Terminal’s (CSBT) earnings decreased by around P6 million due to lower terminal fees. In 2012, the terminal earned around P65 million, while only P59 million was amassed last year. The money comes from terminal and parking fees, receipts from lease of properties and fees for its passenger lounge.

The province is receiving P149.6 million every month as its share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

The Capitol received a total of P1.8 billion as its IRA share for 2013, bigger than the P1.6 billion it received in 2012.

Lower target

The Capitol, at the start of the 2013, targeted P3.2 billion based on the budget appropriated by the administration of former governor Gwendolyn Garcia.

Guial said they lowered the target to P2.1 billion after land deals projected by Capitol for the past year did not push through.

According to Guial, they expected to earn P1.5 billion from the disposal of lots covered by Provincial Ordinance 93-1 in Cebu City. During Garcia’s term, 19 homeowners’ associations from different barangays in Cebu City had signed a memorandum of agreement for the sale of province-owned lots they occupied with a total area of 155,979.41 square meters. But Garcia was suspended for six months in December 2012 and the contracts signed by Capitol with the homeowners associations expired.

For 2014, the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) approved what Davide said was a P2.6 billion “safe and realistic” budget.