Monday, October 6, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
MALAYBALAY — The Malaybalay city government is projecting higher collection of property taxes through an Integrated Revenue Generation System (IRGS), which aims at increasing transparency in computing taxes and freeing it from human discretion.
"The city is expanding its collection but it did not increase tax rates," said Eileen O. Gamo, human resource and audit consultant of Malaybalay, said.
From a collection of P13 million in real property tax in 2006, the city reported a P17.1 million collection last year. The city is projecting to collect P100 million in the next two to three years when local reforms take full effect.
The IRGS required local officials to ensure faster and transparent transactions to benefit the taxpayers.
Recently, Mayor Florencio T. Flores, Jr. transferred the issuance of tax declarations on properties from the provincial assessor’s office to the city assessor’s office, cutting processing time significantly.
Bar-coded tax declarations have been introduced and property tax histories can now be accessed thru IRGS in about five minutes instead of the usual one hour.
The IRGS started in 2006 with the restructuring of the entire local government administrative system in the city. Ms. Gamo said Mr. Flores had fully understood the need for restructuring in the city government.
This includes changing the management style from being "leader-centered" to "organization-centered," said Ms. Gamo.
Management is now process-driven, she said, and this has been implemented in the all units, from upper to mid-level managers and supervisors down to utility workers.
"The city assures that the right people is in the right position, all the employees were trained and even janitors now have the standard operating procedures in cleaning their assigned facilities," said Ms. Gamo.
Aside from the IRGS, the local government has also harnessed a Geographical Information System, the Malaybalay Integrated Survey System, and department-based information systems to ensure efficient revenue generation as well as transparency and accountability in local governance.
She said the cities of Davao and Zamboanga, two of the largest cities in Mindanao, are also looking at the possibility of replicating the systems currently applied by Malaybalay.
MALAYBALAY — The Malaybalay city government is projecting higher collection of property taxes through an Integrated Revenue Generation System (IRGS), which aims at increasing transparency in computing taxes and freeing it from human discretion.
"The city is expanding its collection but it did not increase tax rates," said Eileen O. Gamo, human resource and audit consultant of Malaybalay, said.
From a collection of P13 million in real property tax in 2006, the city reported a P17.1 million collection last year. The city is projecting to collect P100 million in the next two to three years when local reforms take full effect.
The IRGS required local officials to ensure faster and transparent transactions to benefit the taxpayers.
Recently, Mayor Florencio T. Flores, Jr. transferred the issuance of tax declarations on properties from the provincial assessor’s office to the city assessor’s office, cutting processing time significantly.
Bar-coded tax declarations have been introduced and property tax histories can now be accessed thru IRGS in about five minutes instead of the usual one hour.
The IRGS started in 2006 with the restructuring of the entire local government administrative system in the city. Ms. Gamo said Mr. Flores had fully understood the need for restructuring in the city government.
This includes changing the management style from being "leader-centered" to "organization-centered," said Ms. Gamo.
Management is now process-driven, she said, and this has been implemented in the all units, from upper to mid-level managers and supervisors down to utility workers.
"The city assures that the right people is in the right position, all the employees were trained and even janitors now have the standard operating procedures in cleaning their assigned facilities," said Ms. Gamo.
Aside from the IRGS, the local government has also harnessed a Geographical Information System, the Malaybalay Integrated Survey System, and department-based information systems to ensure efficient revenue generation as well as transparency and accountability in local governance.
She said the cities of Davao and Zamboanga, two of the largest cities in Mindanao, are also looking at the possibility of replicating the systems currently applied by Malaybalay.
